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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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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: net · cap · shower · mine · hide · band · vault · wound

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cap — a hat
  4. shower — rain
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. net — after costs
  7. cap — a lid
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. net — in sport
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. net — for catching
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. vault — a safe
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cap — of ice
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. band — a music 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