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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: chest · bear · face · prune · stem · vault · tube · row

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — to confront
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. row — a line
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. vault — a safe
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. chest — of your body
  12. tube — the underground
  13. bear — the animal
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. tube — a container
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. chest — a box
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bear — the animal
  24. row — to paddle

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