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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 · chair · straw · court · vault · wake · prune · foot

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. foot — a measure
  3. bat — the animal
  4. court — of law
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. court — of a king
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. prune — to trim
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. chair — a leader
  19. court — for sport
  20. vault — a safe
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. bat — in an idiom

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