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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: vault · land · bulb · chest · racket · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. land — ground
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bulb — for light
  9. chest — of your body
  10. vault — a safe
  11. chest — a box
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. bulb — for light
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — a country

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