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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: straw · chip · kid · content · bowl · vault · lean · hand

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. content — the amount
  6. kid — child
  7. chip — for betting
  8. chip — to eat
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. content — happy
  12. hand — help
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. hand — in cards
  20. lean — thin
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. lean — to bend
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — a straw man

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