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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 · bat · wind · stem · straw · pit · toast · bass

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pit — in a race
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. bass — low music
  10. stem — to come from
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. toast — bread
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. vault — a safe

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