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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.

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: cold · vault · capital · spell · wound · straw · mug · tube

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. mug — a cup
  2. mug — to rob
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — a container
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. spell — letters
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — not warm
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spell — a short time
  16. capital — a city
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. spell — magic
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. capital — money
  21. vault — a safe
  22. mug — a face
  23. wound — an injury
  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