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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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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: wind · track · vault · wound · lean · staff · last · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. last — finally
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. staff — employees
  6. vault — a safe
  7. content — the amount
  8. staff — employees
  9. track — a song
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. lean — to bend
  12. track — to keep track
  13. lean — thin
  14. staff — a stick
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — to go on
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. last — final
  23. track — a path
  24. wind — moving air

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