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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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Word bank
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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: row · plane · shower · vault · band · net · kid · coach

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. shower — to wash
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. vault — a safe
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a line
  14. band — a music group
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. kid — child
  18. net — for catching
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. band — a ring
  21. plane — a tool
  22. shower — rain
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. net — in sport

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