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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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Word bank
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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: wound · wind · object · cold · lie · vault · saw · spring

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. wound — an injury
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — an aim
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — moving air
  11. spring — of water
  12. object — to protest
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lie — to recline
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wound — an injury
  22. spring — the season
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. object — a thing

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