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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: pitcher · kid · spell · lean · vault · race · band · cell

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. race — a contest
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. vault — a safe
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. band — a ring
  7. lean — to bend
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cell — a phone
  10. race — humankind
  11. kid — child
  12. band — a music group
  13. cell — in biology
  14. spell — letters
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. spell — a short time
  18. lean — thin
  19. spell — magic
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. band — a rubber band

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