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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 116 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: season · court · bulb · bark · vault · straw · wind · stem

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. bulb — for light
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stem — to come from
  8. season — in sport
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. wind — moving air
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. court — for sport
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. court — of law
  22. vault — a safe
  23. court — of a king
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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