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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: capital · mate · vault · pit · pass · mouse · cold · chair

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. capital — money
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. vault — a safe
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. pit — a hole
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. capital — a city
  13. chair — a leader
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. mate — a partner
  17. mate — to breed
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. pass — a permit
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cold — an illness

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