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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 116 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: bay · fork · wind · tear · spring · rush · vault · trunk

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. tear — from crying
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. spring — a coil
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. spring — the season
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. spring — of water
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. tear — to rip
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. vault — a safe
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bay — a horse colour

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