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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. mug — to rob
  4. race — humankind
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mug — a face
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. lean — thin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. vault — a safe
  13. race — a contest
  14. plane — a tool
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. band — a music group
  18. squash — to crush
  19. race — the arms race
  20. mug — a cup
  21. band — a ring
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. lean — to rest against

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