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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 · vault · rule · prune · hide · straw · pitch · chip

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. vault — a safe
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. chest — a box
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — to eat
  10. rule — a law
  11. chest — of your body
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. rule — government
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. pitch — completely
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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