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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 120 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: race · ground · net · file · cold · swing · vault · present

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. vault — a safe
  6. net — for catching
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. net — after costs
  9. race — the arms race
  10. present — a gift
  11. ground — the earth
  12. file — a document
  13. swing — to play on
  14. file — a line of people
  15. swing — in golf
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. swing — music
  19. present — the time now
  20. cold — an illness
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. present — there
  23. net — in sport
  24. race — humankind

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