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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: vault · tear · prune · bowl · face · wind · bat · stem

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. tear — to rip
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. tear — from crying
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. vault — a safe
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. tear — from crying
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. face — to confront
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. stem — to come from
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — the animal

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