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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: bay · dip · cold · vault · press · last · shower · bat

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. shower — to wash
  5. last — finally
  6. press — to push
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cold — not warm
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bat — the animal
  15. dip — to sink
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. last — to go on
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — rain
  22. cold — an illness
  23. last — final
  24. bat — in an idiom

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