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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. prune — to trim
  3. band — a music group
  4. prune — to trim
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chest — of your body
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — to wash
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chest — of your body
  11. band — a ring
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. wind — moving air
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. chest — a box
  17. object — a thing
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. wind — moving air
  20. object — an aim
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. vault — a safe

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