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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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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: wound · pop · vault · club · wake · rash · cell · swing

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rash — hasty
  3. club — for golf
  4. wound — an injury
  5. club — for dancing
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. rash — a series
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. wake — a trail
  14. swing — to play on
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. pop — music
  19. swing — in golf
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — a phone
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. swing — music
  24. club — a group

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