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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: rule · vault · chair · spring · kid · net · tube · trunk

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — the season
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. vault — a safe
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. rule — a law
  10. net — for catching
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. tube — the underground
  16. spring — of water
  17. kid — to tease
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. net — in sport
  20. rule — government
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. tube — a container
  23. kid — child
  24. trunk — of a tree

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