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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 120 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. squash — to crush
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. tube — a container
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. band — a music group
  15. vault — a safe
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pitcher — a jug

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