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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 116 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: bat · bowl · cold · hide · coach · band · vault · ground

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a music group
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. vault — a safe
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. band — a ring
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. ground — a position
  11. bat — the animal
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cold — not warm
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. ground — the earth
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. ground — crushed

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