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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: racket · bowl · chest · squash · straw · vault

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. vault — a safe
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. chest — of your body
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. squash — the sport
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. chest — of your body
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chest — a box
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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