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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: stick · cell · bat · band · vault · tear · net · prune

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tear — from crying
  4. vault — a safe
  5. band — a ring
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. band — a music group
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. tear — to rip
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — a phone
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. net — in sport
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. net — for catching
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bat — in an idiom

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