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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: cold · vault · kick · mug · chest · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kick — in football
  5. mug — to rob
  6. mug — a face
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mug — a cup
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — to tease
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. chest — of your body

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