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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cold — an illness
  7. swing — in golf
  8. tube — the underground
  9. band — a ring
  10. field — farmland
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. staff — employees
  14. vault — a safe
  15. staff — a stick
  16. swing — music
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. field — for sport
  22. tube — a container
  23. swing — to play on
  24. field — a subject

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