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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: perch · vault · mark · cold · key · jam · kid · patient

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. kid — to tease
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. perch — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. mark — a trace
  9. key — for a lock
  10. cold — an illness
  11. vault — a safe
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. key — the most important part
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. key — in music
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. kid — child
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mark — a grade
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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