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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. prune — to trim
  3. vault — a safe
  4. game — wild animals
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. saw — the tool
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. snap — to click
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. saw — the tool
  24. game — a match

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