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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 116 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: kid · lean · hand · net · tube · pound · cold · vault

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. lean — thin
  3. kid — to tease
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kid — child
  7. hand — help
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. net — for catching
  11. net — after costs
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. lean — to bend
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. net — in sport
  21. tube — the underground
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. vault — a safe
  24. cold — not warm

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