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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. band — a ring
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. stand — to bear
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. net — in sport
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. net — for catching
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bark — to shout
  17. net — after costs
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. band — a rubber band

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