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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 · trunk · bat · cell · stem · hide · ball · cold

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cell — in biology
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — the animal
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. ball — a great time
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. vault — a safe
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cold — not warm

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