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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: vault · court · stand · pitch · bat · cold · root · fan

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. stand — to bear
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. root — of a plant
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — completely
  22. root — of a word
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. root — the cause

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