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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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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: pop · march · chest · date · vault · rest · trunk · wound

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. vault — a safe
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rest — what's left
  11. date — the fruit
  12. march — music
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. march — the month
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. pop — music
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wound — an injury
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. march — the month
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wound — an injury

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