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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: root · pit · shower · spring · clip · cell · mine · vault

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cell — a phone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. spring — of water
  6. pit — a hole
  7. root — the cause
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. clip — a video
  11. mine — for digging
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. cell — in biology
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spring — a coil
  19. vault — a safe
  20. pit — in a race
  21. shower — to wash
  22. root — of a plant
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — to cut

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