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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 120 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: stock · bowl · content · vault · wind · leaves · club · cold

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. club — for golf
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. club — a group
  11. wind — moving air
  12. content — the amount
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wind — moving air
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. leaves — lets stay

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