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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. snap — to click
  3. vault — a safe
  4. spring — the season
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fine — all right
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. scale — in music
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. band — a music group
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fine — high quality
  20. spring — of water
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. spring — a coil

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