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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: court · bat · chest · perch · vault · prune · date · fall

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. court — for sport
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. vault — a safe
  5. court — of a king
  6. fall — to drop
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fall — the season
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chest — of your body
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. court — of law
  19. chest — of your body
  20. perch — the fish
  21. date — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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