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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 120 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: vault · pitcher · wake · field · sharp · bore · bass · spring

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. field — farmland
  3. vault — a safe
  4. bass — the fish
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bore — to tire
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. bore — to drill
  10. spring — a coil
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. sharp — clever
  18. spring — of water
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — low music
  21. spring — the season
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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