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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: spring · chair · vault · game · rush · scale · season · bark

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. rush — hurry
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. vault — a safe
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bark — to shout
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. spring — of water
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. game — a match
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. season — in sport
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. season — of the year
  20. game — wild animals
  21. scale — in music
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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