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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 124 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. band — a music group
  3. firm — steady
  4. drill — a practice
  5. drill — the tool
  6. game — wild animals
  7. firm — a company
  8. band — a ring
  9. race — humankind
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — a safe
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. firm — decided
  16. game — a match
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bat — the animal
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. drill — army training
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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