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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 120 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 · chair · saw · root · chest · spring · vault · rule

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. root — of a plant
  3. rule — a law
  4. chair — a leader
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. vault — a safe
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. root — of a word
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. root — the cause
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. rule — government
  20. cold — an illness
  21. chest — a box
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — the season
  24. cold — not warm

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