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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: chair · vault · can · field · dip · pound · bat · cold

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. vault — a safe
  5. field — a subject
  6. pound — a weight
  7. field — for sport
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. can — a tin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. can — to be able to
  15. chair — a leader
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. field — farmland
  23. dip — to sink
  24. bat — in an idiom

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