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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · pound · root · pitcher · temple · fall · cold · vault

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pound — a weight
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — a safe
  5. root — the cause
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. fall — the season
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fall — to drop
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. wake — a trail

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com