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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: vault · sharp · scale · trunk · toast · cell · wake · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wake — a trail
  11. toast — bread
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. scale — size or range
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cell — a phone
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. chest — a box
  19. scale — in music
  20. cell — in biology
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. sharp — with an edge

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