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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: last · court · spell · cell · pitcher · rest · hand · vault

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. vault — a safe
  3. last — to go on
  4. rest — what's left
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. last — final
  8. spell — a short time
  9. last — finally
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. court — for sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. spell — letters
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. hand — help
  18. spell — magic
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. court — of a king
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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