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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. net — in sport
  3. vault — a safe
  4. content — the amount
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. fall — the season
  7. march — the month
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. band — a ring
  14. cold — not warm
  15. march — the month
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. net — for catching
  18. content — happy
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — music
  23. band — a music group
  24. net — after costs

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