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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. prune — to trim
  6. deal — to handle
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rest — what's left
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. cold — an illness
  14. vault — a safe
  15. rest — what's left
  16. prune — to trim
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rest — a break
  21. spring — the season
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. shower — rain

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