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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: shower · cold · vault · net · mate · bear · calf · court

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. bear — to put up with
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bear — the animal
  5. court — of a king
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mate — to breed
  12. net — after costs
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. mate — a friend
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bear — the animal
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. shower — rain
  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