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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 116 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: hand · wind · present · capital · suit · vault · saw · cold

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  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. vault — a safe
  2. saw — the tool
  3. present — there
  4. present — a gift
  5. cold — not warm
  6. hand — in cards
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. present — the time now
  12. cold — an illness
  13. capital — money
  14. hand — help
  15. saw — the tool
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. suit — to fit
  20. wind — moving air
  21. suit — in cards
  22. capital — a city
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  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