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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: cold · fall · perch · bark · hand · vault · plane · tear

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. fall — the season
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hand — help
  8. vault — a safe
  9. hand — in cards
  10. plane — a tool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. perch — the fish
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bark — to shout
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. perch — for a bird

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