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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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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chip — to eat
  4. lean — thin
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. band — a music group
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. band — a ring
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chip — for betting
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. lean — to bend
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chest — a box
  22. swing — in golf
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. kid — child

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