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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: cold · content · swing · pitcher · nail · bark · vault · trunk

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. swing — music
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. swing — in golf
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — the amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — not warm
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. content — happy
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — to shout

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