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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. file — a tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. net — for catching
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. band — a music group
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. vault — a safe
  13. pass — a permit
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. band — a ring
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. file — a line of people
  18. craft — a skill
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. craft — boats
  23. file — a document
  24. cold — not warm

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