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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 · vault · rest · roll · spring · rule · nail · ground

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. rest — what's left
  3. spring — the season
  4. rest — a break
  5. vault — a safe
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. ground — a position
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. ground — crushed
  10. rule — a law
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cold — an illness
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rest — what's left
  16. roll — a cake
  17. cold — not warm
  18. ground — the earth
  19. spring — of water
  20. rule — government
  21. roll — a list
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. spring — a coil

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