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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: club · face · vault · straw · foot · cabinet · capital · cold

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. club — for dancing
  5. capital — a city
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. face — part of the head
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. club — for golf
  10. capital — money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. face — to confront
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. face — to point toward
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. cold — an illness
  20. vault — a safe
  21. foot — a measure
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. club — a group

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