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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: chair · dip · band · date · wound · cold · board · vault

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — to get on
  9. cold — an illness
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wound — an injury
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. vault — a safe
  15. board — a committee
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. band — a music group
  18. chair — a leader
  19. band — a ring
  20. date — the fruit
  21. dip — to sink
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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