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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: land · content · net · vault · band · object · cell · bowl

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a music group
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. land — to come down
  7. net — in sport
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. net — for catching
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. cell — a phone
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. land — ground
  14. content — the amount
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. object — to protest
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. vault — a safe
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. net — after costs
  21. object — an aim
  22. cell — in biology
  23. object — a thing
  24. land — a country

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