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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 · court · chest · coach · bay · wind · ground · vault

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. cold — an illness
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. wind — moving air
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. vault — a safe
  9. ground — the earth
  10. court — of a king
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — a box
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. ground — a position
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. chest — of your body

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