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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: content · race · vault · cap · pop · chair

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. 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. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. pop — to visit
  5. vault — a safe
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pop — soda
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a leader
  14. race — the arms race
  15. pop — music
  16. cap — a hat
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. 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