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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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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: spring · racket · wake · field · wound · pitcher · lean · vault

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — to bend
  7. wake — a trail
  8. field — for sport
  9. spring — the season
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — a coil
  13. field — a subject
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — farmland
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. spring — of water
  23. lean — thin
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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