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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 · land · bulb · chest · racket · tear · pit · rash

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pit — in a race
  3. vault — a safe
  4. land — to come down
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. land — a country
  7. rash — a series
  8. pit — a hole
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. chest — of your body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. tear — to rip
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. land — ground
  21. bulb — for light
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — of a plant

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