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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: chest · shower · roll · cap · vault · spring · ball · perch

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. chest — a box
  3. spring — of water
  4. chest — of your body
  5. vault — a safe
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. roll — a list
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. shower — to wash
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. ball — a great time
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. perch — the fish
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cap — of ice
  19. spring — the season
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cap — a hat
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. cap — a lid

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