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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: court · ball · swing · chest · vault · sharp · row · temple

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. ball — a dance
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. chest — of your body
  6. swing — to play on
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. sharp — clever
  9. ball — a great time
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — in golf
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. court — of law
  16. swing — music
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a line
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. court — for sport
  22. chest — a box
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. court — of a king

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