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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: vault · mine · cell · hand · race · wound · band · temple

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  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 ring
  2. vault — a safe
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wound — an injury
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. race — humankind
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. band — a music group
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mine — for digging
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cell — a phone
  21. hand — in cards
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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