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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a ring
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. field — for sport
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. field — a subject
  12. hand — help
  13. vault — a safe
  14. object — to protest
  15. wind — moving air
  16. field — farmland
  17. prune — to trim
  18. hand — in cards
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. prune — to trim
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. object — an aim
  24. object — a thing

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