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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: stock · cold · vault · hand · ball · drill · nail · chair

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chair — a leader
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. hand — help
  6. ball — a great time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — in cards
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. stock — goods
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stock — shares
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. vault — a safe
  20. drill — a practice
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. drill — army training
  24. stock — a soup base

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