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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: vault · net · bowl · pound · cold · racket

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cold — not warm
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. net — for catching
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. pound — a weight
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. cold — an illness
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. net — after costs
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. racket — for tennis

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