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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 · drill · ground · vault · deal · roll · bay · mate

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. roll — a cake
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cold — an illness
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — a safe
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. roll — a list
  13. drill — a practice
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. deal — to handle
  16. drill — the tool
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. drill — army training
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. ground — the earth
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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