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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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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: bear · game · vault · board · cold · stock · snap · shower

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. board — a committee
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. shower — to wash
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. snap — to click
  14. shower — rain
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. stock — goods
  18. game — a match
  19. board — to get on
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bear — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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