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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: race · lie · vault · wound · ground · pound · cold · date

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. race — a contest
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — the arms race
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. vault — a safe
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cold — an illness
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wound — an injury
  19. date — the fruit
  20. race — humankind
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. pound — a weight
  23. ground — the earth
  24. pound — to hit hard

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