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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: vault · snap · capital · plane · arm · cold · mate · pound

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — a safe
  13. capital — a city
  14. plane — a tool
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. snap — to click
  20. pound — a weight
  21. mate — a partner
  22. capital — money
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. mate — to breed

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