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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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Word bank
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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 · chair · net · stem · straw · cold · lie · tube

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. lie — to recline
  4. chair — a leader
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. tube — the underground
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. net — for catching
  12. tube — a container
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. net — in sport
  20. vault — a safe
  21. net — after costs
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. straw — a straw man

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