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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: vault · clip · shower · chest · band · key · fall · cap

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fall — to drop
  4. clip — for paper
  5. key — for a lock
  6. cap — of ice
  7. clip — a video
  8. band — a music group
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fall — the season
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fall — to drop
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cap — a lid
  16. key — in music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. cap — a hat
  20. vault — a safe
  21. shower — to wash
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. key — the most important part

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