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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 116 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: last · nail · chair · field · vault · cold · lean · net

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — for catching
  4. last — to go on
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — a subject
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — a leader
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. field — farmland
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — for sport
  17. lean — to bend
  18. last — finally
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. vault — a safe
  22. lean — thin
  23. net — in sport
  24. nail — for a hammer

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