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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: stem · lean · wind · rash · fork · vault · last · cold

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cold — an illness
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. last — finally
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. last — final
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. cold — not warm
  13. lean — thin
  14. rash — a series
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. rash — hasty
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wind — moving air
  23. vault — a safe
  24. lean — to bend

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