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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. band — a music group
  7. kid — child
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cell — in biology
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. content — happy
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. vault — a safe
  18. scale — size or range
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. scale — in music
  21. content — the amount
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — to wash
  24. kid — to tease

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