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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: straw · vault · date · root · kick · ball · cell · cold

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cold — an illness
  5. root — the cause
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. ball — a dance
  9. root — of a word
  10. cold — not warm
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. ball — a great time
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. date — the fruit
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cell — in biology
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cell — a phone
  24. kick — with a leg

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