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

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — a group
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. field — a subject
  14. club — for golf
  15. chest — of your body
  16. vault — a safe
  17. band — a music group
  18. bass — the fish
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a ring
  24. field — farmland

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