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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: band · deal · nail · present · clip · vault · object · cold

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. clip — a video
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. object — to protest
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. deal — to handle
  9. present — a gift
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — an illness
  12. object — a thing
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. object — an aim
  16. band — a music group
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. present — the time now
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. vault — a safe
  24. present — there

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