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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 120 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: lash · prune · arm · tear · pit · cold · vault · rule

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pit — in a race
  4. cold — an illness
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. prune — to trim
  9. vault — a safe
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tear — from crying
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. rule — a law
  18. pit — a hole
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. rule — government
  21. prune — to trim
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tear — from crying

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