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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: band · charge · chair · bat · prune · spring · hand · vault

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. hand — in cards
  3. hand — help
  4. bat — the animal
  5. spring — a coil
  6. charge — in control
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. band — a music group
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spring — of water
  12. vault — a safe
  13. spring — the season
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. charge — a price
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chair — a leader
  21. prune — to trim
  22. charge — electricity
  23. prune — to trim
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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