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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · roll · fan · bat · prune · fork · clip · tube

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. vault — a safe
  8. prune — to trim
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. clip — a video
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bat — the animal
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — the underground
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — to cut
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  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