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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: vault · mark · cold · game · prune · patient · row · bound

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. row — a line
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. mark — a grade
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a match
  13. mark — a trace
  14. vault — a safe
  15. bound — tied together
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. row — to paddle
  23. game — wild animals
  24. prune — to trim

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