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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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Word bank
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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 · dip · mine · sharp · cold · prune · present · straw

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. cold — an illness
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. present — the time now
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. vault — a safe
  15. prune — to trim
  16. sharp — clever
  17. present — a gift
  18. present — there
  19. mine — for digging
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. prune — to trim
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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