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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. press — a publisher
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — a coil
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. press — newspapers
  8. content — happy
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. content — the amount
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. press — to push
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — of water
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. kid — child
  20. spring — the season
  21. vault — a safe
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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