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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: cold · suit · vault · spring · season · face · fork · chest

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — an illness
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. season — in sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — the season
  7. face — to confront
  8. suit — to fit
  9. suit — in cards
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — of water
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fork — in a road
  17. suit — clothes
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. vault — a safe
  21. face — to point toward
  22. face — part of the head
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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