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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. lean — thin
  5. last — final
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. vault — a safe
  13. last — to go on
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. prune — to trim
  16. club — for dancing
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. club — for golf
  19. last — finally
  20. prune — to trim
  21. club — a group
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitcher — a jug

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