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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: land · vault · scale · game · cold · club · kid · temple

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cold — not warm
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. vault — a safe
  7. kid — to tease
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. land — to come down
  10. game — wild animals
  11. kid — child
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. club — a group
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. game — a match
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. scale — in music
  21. club — for golf
  22. scale — size or range
  23. land — ground
  24. cold — an illness

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