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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. cold — an illness
  3. band — a music group
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. band — a ring
  6. plane — a tool
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — a safe
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. fine — all right
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rest — what's left
  22. branch — a division
  23. cold — not warm
  24. plane — an aircraft

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