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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: ground · cold · last · court · march · root · vault · pop

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. root — of a word
  3. last — final
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. pop — to visit
  6. court — of law
  7. pop — music
  8. cold — an illness
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. march — the month
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — crushed
  14. root — of a plant
  15. ground — the earth
  16. court — of a king
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pop — soda
  19. root — the cause
  20. march — music
  21. last — to go on
  22. march — the month
  23. last — finally
  24. court — for sport

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