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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: row · cold · vault · temple · mine · last · coach · snap

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. mine — for digging
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. row — to paddle
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. last — finally
  14. row — a line
  15. vault — a safe
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. last — to go on
  18. snap — to click
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. last — final

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