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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 124 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. season — of the year
  5. band — a music group
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. season — in sport
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. band — a ring
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. vault — a safe
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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