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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: ground · kid · prune · vault · calf · tube · content · spell

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. kid — to tease
  3. prune — to trim
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. spell — magic
  6. ground — crushed
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — the underground
  11. prune — to trim
  12. spell — letters
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. ground — a position
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. content — happy
  21. ground — the earth
  22. kid — child
  23. vault — a safe
  24. content — the amount

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