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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: cold · vault · pitcher · root · club · cell · chip · band

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. band — a ring
  3. vault — a safe
  4. chip — to eat
  5. club — for golf
  6. cold — an illness
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. root — of a word
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cell — in biology
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. root — the cause
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cell — a phone
  18. band — a music group
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. root — of a plant
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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