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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: court · trunk · vault · bound · stem · cold · perch · face

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. perch — the fish
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stem — to come from
  6. bound — tied together
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. cold — not warm
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. court — of law
  16. court — of a king
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. vault — a safe
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — an illness
  21. court — for sport
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. face — to point toward

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