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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.

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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: spring · land · vault · tube · race · pound · fall · chair

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. vault — a safe
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. fall — to drop
  5. land — to come down
  6. tube — a container
  7. spring — of water
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. spring — a coil
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. fall — to drop
  13. land — ground
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. fall — the season
  17. pound — a weight
  18. land — a country
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. race — a contest
  23. tube — the underground
  24. spring — the season

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