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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: sharp · fork · march · cold · vault · mouse · club · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. club — a group
  3. band — a ring
  4. march — the month
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. march — music
  7. vault — a safe
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cold — not warm
  11. club — for dancing
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fork — in a road
  15. club — for golf
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. march — the month
  24. fork — to eat with

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