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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: kid · mate · cold · sharp · trunk · race · craft · vault

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. craft — a skill
  3. race — humankind
  4. mate — a partner
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mate — to breed
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. sharp — clever
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. kid — to tease
  19. craft — boats
  20. race — a contest
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — child
  23. mate — a friend
  24. cold — an illness

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