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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: cabinet · band · stock · vault · sharp · chest · wound · kid

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. stock — shares
  3. chest — a box
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. band — a ring
  8. kid — to tease
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stock — goods
  11. band — a music group
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. wound — an injury
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. sharp — exactly

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