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

Word bank: vault · chest · nail · stem · wind · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — thin
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. wind — moving air
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — to come from
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. chest — a box
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. vault — a safe
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. nail — on a finger

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