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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cold — not warm
  3. perch — the fish
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. vault — a safe
  9. band — a music group
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. band — a ring
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cold — an illness
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bat — the animal
  18. snap — to click

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