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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. stem — to come from
  7. prune — to trim
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. last — final
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — child
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chair — a leader
  18. pound — a weight
  19. last — to go on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. last — finally
  24. vault — a safe

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