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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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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: wind · swing · vault · bat · wave · lie · tear · band

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. vault — a safe
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. band — a music group
  9. tear — from crying
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. band — a ring
  12. lie — to recline
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. wind — moving air
  17. swing — music
  18. tear — to rip
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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