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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.

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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: object · hand · ground · vault · kid · shower · march · chest

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ground — a position
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. object — to protest
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. shower — to wash
  9. march — music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — the month
  12. vault — a safe
  13. shower — rain
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chest — a box
  16. ground — the earth
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. object — an aim
  19. object — a thing
  20. kid — to tease
  21. ground — crushed
  22. chest — of your body
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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