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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: spring · fall · vault · pop · cold · racket · pitcher · sharp

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. fall — the season
  3. cold — not warm
  4. sharp — clever
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. cold — an illness
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pop — soda
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spring — of water
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. spring — the season
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. spring — a coil
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pop — music

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