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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. swing — to play on
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. vault — a safe
  5. band — a ring
  6. swing — in golf
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. band — a music group
  11. current — of water
  12. face — part of the head
  13. current — happening now
  14. mine — for digging
  15. spring — the season
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. swing — music
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — to point toward
  24. spring — of water

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