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

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. pop — to visit
  4. last — to go on
  5. vault — a safe
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. last — finally
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chest — a box
  10. spring — the season
  11. pop — music
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. last — final
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. pop — soda
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water

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