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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: mine · land · wave · field · vault · cold · dip · club

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. vault — a safe
  3. cold — an illness
  4. club — for golf
  5. mine — for digging
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. land — a country
  8. field — a subject
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. club — for dancing
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — a group
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. dip — to sink
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. land — to come down
  23. field — farmland
  24. land — ground

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