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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ball — a dance
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cold — not warm
  13. dip — to sink
  14. clip — to cut
  15. ball — a great time
  16. clip — for paper
  17. tube — the underground
  18. band — a ring
  19. clip — a video
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. vault — a safe
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. cold — an illness
  24. dip — to dunk

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