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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: kid · bat · bark · chest · vault · lean · row · wake

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. lean — to bend
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. lean — thin
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wake — a trail
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — a line
  23. chest — a box
  24. vault — a safe

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