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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: vault · kick · staff · cold · field · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cold — not warm
  3. band — a ring
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. field — for sport
  9. vault — a safe
  10. field — farmland
  11. staff — employees
  12. field — a subject
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kick — in football

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