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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 120 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: court · vault · straw · spring · lean · land · squash · kid

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. vault — a safe
  3. lean — thin
  4. spring — the season
  5. kid — child
  6. court — of a king
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. court — of law
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. court — for sport
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — a coil
  16. lean — to bend
  17. spring — of water
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. squash — to crush
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. land — a country
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. squash — the sport

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