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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · fan · vault · tube · jam · fine · cold · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — a safe
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. tube — the underground
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. band — a music group
  13. game — a match
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. fine — all right
  21. fine — high quality
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — wild animals
  24. jam — a tight spot

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