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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. kid — child
  4. root — of a word
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. vault — a safe
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. rash — a series
  11. row — a line
  12. root — the cause
  13. kid — to tease
  14. root — of a plant
  15. rash — hasty
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. row — to paddle

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