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

Word bank: prune · shower · capital · vault · nail · kid

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kid — child
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. shower — rain
  7. prune — to trim
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. capital — money
  12. capital — a city
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. kid — to tease
  16. vault — a safe
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. vault — an arched ceiling

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