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

Word bank: club · vault · mark · date · pound · band · cold · trunk

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. club — for golf
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. mark — a trace
  8. band — a ring
  9. date — the fruit
  10. pound — a weight
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — a group
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. club — for dancing
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mark — a grade
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. vault — a safe

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