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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: content · cap · pound · vault · wind · kid

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cap — a lid
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. content — the amount
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. vault — a safe
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. cap — of ice
  17. wind — moving air
  18. content — videos and posts

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