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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: vault · drill · pit · shower · bore · cap · pitch · court

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cap — of ice
  6. pitch — completely
  7. bore — to drill
  8. vault — a safe
  9. shower — to wash
  10. court — for sport
  11. cap — a lid
  12. drill — army training
  13. pit — in a race
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. bore — to tire
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. court — of a king
  19. court — of law
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pit — a hole
  22. shower — rain
  23. drill — a practice
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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