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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: vault · cold · rest · land · tear · saw · race · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. land — a country
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — a safe
  10. rest — a break
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. tear — to rip
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. cold — not warm
  16. saw — the tool
  17. rest — what's left
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — an illness
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cell — a phone
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — the arms race

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