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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: pound · mine · vault · nail · bowl · land · tube · wind

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. land — ground
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. tube — a container
  20. vault — a safe
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. tube — the underground
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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