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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: rock · jam · vault · saw · capital · bore · snap · cold

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. rock — music
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. snap — to click
  7. bore — to tire
  8. saw — the tool
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bore — to drill
  13. saw — the tool
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. rock — a stone
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. vault — a safe
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. rock — to move gently

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