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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: vault · can · kid · pitcher · saw · spring · cold · toast

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. kid — to tease
  3. vault — a safe
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — to be able to
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — child
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. spring — a coil
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. can — a tin
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. toast — bread
  21. spring — of water
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. cold — an illness
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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