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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 120 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: deal · vault · chest · band · clip · tube · fall · plane

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. clip — for paper
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. fall — the season
  5. band — a music group
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. chest — of your body
  9. fall — to drop
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. tube — a container
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. chest — of your body
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. band — a ring
  18. plane — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. vault — a safe
  21. chest — a box
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. tube — the underground
  24. deal — to handle

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