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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 120 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: board · vault · prune · capital · net · chest · arm · file

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. board — a committee
  2. capital — a city
  3. board — to get on
  4. net — in sport
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. vault — a safe
  17. chest — of your body
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. capital — money
  23. prune — to trim
  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