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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: cold · squash · race · jam · vault · bark · kick · perch

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. cold — an illness
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. race — a contest
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. race — the arms race
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. vault — a safe
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bark — to shout
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — in football
  23. cold — not warm
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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