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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: stem · ground · vault · fork · arm · cold · squash · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. fork — in a road
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. stem — to come from
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. squash — the sport
  17. ground — a position
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. ground — the earth
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. vault — a safe
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. squash — the vegetable

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