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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: bat · vault · fine · roll · bark · kick · perch · chest

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — to shout
  4. chest — a box
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. vault — a safe
  9. perch — the fish
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. roll — a cake
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. fine — all right
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. roll — a list
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chest — of your body
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. kick — in football

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