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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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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 · shower · mouse · chest · vault · cold · firm · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  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. band — a music group
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chair — a leader
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. vault — a safe
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cold — not warm
  14. shower — rain
  15. band — a ring
  16. chest — of your body
  17. firm — a company
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chest — a box
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. firm — steady
  23. firm — decided
  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