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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: cold · snap · staff · coach · bat · vault · press · cell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — a phone
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. staff — employees
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. press — to push
  9. staff — employees
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. press — newspapers
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. staff — a stick
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. snap — to click
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bat — the animal

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