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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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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: spring · kid · bat · cold · mark · track · face · vault

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. kid — child
  3. vault — a safe
  4. spring — of water
  5. track — to keep track
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — to confront
  9. mark — a grade
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. spring — a coil
  17. face — to point toward
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. spring — the season
  20. cold — an illness
  21. kid — to tease
  22. track — a path
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. cold — not warm

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