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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cap — a lid
  3. band — a ring
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. band — a music group
  8. vault — a safe
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cap — of ice
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. club — for dancing
  14. club — for golf
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cap — a hat
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chest — a box
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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