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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. file — a tool
  3. staff — employees
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. file — a document
  6. rule — government
  7. band — a music group
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. staff — employees
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. rule — a law
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pitch — completely
  16. tear — from crying
  17. file — a line of people
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tear — from crying
  20. vault — a safe
  21. staff — a stick
  22. tear — to rip
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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