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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. pop — soda
  3. vault — a safe
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wind — moving air
  7. scale — size or range
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pop — to visit
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. scale — in music
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. band — a music group
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. staff — a stick
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pop — music

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