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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: cold · mark · field · vault · kid · temple · squash · net

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. field — a subject
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. net — for catching
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. vault — a safe
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. mark — a grade
  9. squash — to crush
  10. field — for sport
  11. net — in sport
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mark — a trace
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. squash — the sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. net — after costs
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. kid — child

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