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

Word bank: march · chest · vault · fork · wind · straw

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — in a road
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — the month
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. vault — a safe
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. march — the month
  14. chest — of your body
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — a box
  18. march — music

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