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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: vault · net · spell · pit · content · wax · bore · cold

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. spell — letters
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pit — a hole
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. spell — magic
  10. bore — to drill
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cold — not warm
  15. vault — a safe
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — in sport
  19. bore — to tire
  20. content — the amount
  21. pit — in a race
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. content — happy
  24. cold — an illness

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