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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: bound · court · tear · vault · content · pound · fall · wind

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. content — happy
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. tear — to rip
  7. vault — a safe
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pound — a weight
  11. court — of a king
  12. bound — certain
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — of law
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. fall — the season
  18. court — for sport
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — the amount
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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