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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: game · can · vault · date · bat · cold · stem · band

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. game — a match
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — the animal
  8. can — to be able to
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. can — a tin
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. vault — a safe
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. stem — to come from
  22. band — a music group
  23. can — a tin
  24. cold — an illness

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