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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 116 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: tear · pitcher · last · vault · hide · mine · sharp · cell

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. sharp — clever
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. last — finally
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. vault — a safe
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cell — in biology
  20. last — to go on
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. mine — for digging

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