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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. squash — the sport
  3. band — a music group
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. drill — the tool
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. kid — child
  12. vault — a safe
  13. board — to get on
  14. band — a ring
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. squash — to crush
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — army training
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bat — the animal
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. bat — in an idiom

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