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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: bowl · vault · fall · row · cold · dip · mine · straw

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. dip — to sink
  9. row — a line
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fall — the season
  18. cold — an illness
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — for digging
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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