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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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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 · land · leaves · vault · row · spell · wound · chest

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chest — a box
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chest — of your body
  5. row — to paddle
  6. land — to come down
  7. band — a ring
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. chest — of your body
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. spell — letters
  15. row — a line
  16. spell — magic
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. land — a country
  22. band — a music group
  23. spell — a short time
  24. vault — a safe

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