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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 124 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: rest · track · squash · snap · race · vault · cold · branch

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. track — a path
  8. squash — to crush
  9. vault — a safe
  10. cold — an illness
  11. track — to keep track
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. snap — to click
  15. squash — the sport
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. rest — what's left
  18. track — a song
  19. rest — what's left
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. race — a contest
  23. branch — a division
  24. rest — a break

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