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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. mine — for digging
  7. band — a ring
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stock — shares
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. cap — a lid
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. band — a music group
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — of ice
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. mine — an explosive

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