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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 · kick · lean · board · vault · bass · wave · court

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lean — to bend
  3. vault — a safe
  4. court — of law
  5. kick — in football
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. court — of a king
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. board — a committee
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. bass — low music
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. lean — thin
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. cold — an illness
  20. board — to get on
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — for sport
  23. bass — the fish
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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