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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: cold · vault · track · rest · rock · net · clip · ground

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. track — to keep track
  3. net — in sport
  4. ground — crushed
  5. track — a song
  6. ground — a position
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — not warm
  12. clip — a video
  13. track — a path
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — for catching
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. vault — a safe
  20. net — after costs
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. rest — what's left
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ground — the earth

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