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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: vault · game · pop · cold · saw · race · fine · land

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. fine — high quality
  3. game — a match
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. land — a country
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. land — ground
  9. vault — a safe
  10. land — to come down
  11. cold — an illness
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pop — to visit
  15. saw — the tool
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pop — music
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pop — soda
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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