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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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Word bank
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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 · cold · straw · pass · key · stock · bat · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. vault — a safe
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. key — in music
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — a permit
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. key — the most important part
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. key — for a lock
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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