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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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Word bank
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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 · wake · chair · mug · spring · rash · pitcher · chest

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. spring — of water
  3. rash — hasty
  4. wake — a trail
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rash — a series
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. vault — a safe
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mug — a cup
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mug — to rob
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. mug — a face
  16. chest — a box
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. spring — a coil

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