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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: content · wave · cold · rest · stock · vault · bound · drill

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — an illness
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. drill — a practice
  7. bound — obliged
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. rest — what's left
  10. stock — shares
  11. vault — a safe
  12. stock — goods
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. cold — not warm
  18. drill — the tool
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. bound — certain
  21. content — the amount
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rest — a break

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