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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: mine · bark · lean · capital · bat · arm · content · vault

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. lean — to bend
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bark — to shout
  5. capital — money
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — for digging
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. capital — a city
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. lean — thin
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. mine — belonging to me

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