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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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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: last · band · club · face · shower · vault · season · chest

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. shower — to wash
  3. season — in sport
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. last — final
  6. club — a group
  7. face — to confront
  8. chest — of your body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. club — for golf
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. band — a ring
  14. last — finally
  15. shower — rain
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — a safe
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. chest — of your body
  20. last — to go on
  21. club — for dancing
  22. season — of the year
  23. chest — a box
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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