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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 116 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: content · bound · vault · court · key · cold · fall · spell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spell — a short time
  3. content — happy
  4. court — of a king
  5. bound — tied together
  6. spell — letters
  7. bound — certain
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. key — the most important part
  14. spell — magic
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. vault — a safe
  17. bound — obliged
  18. cold — an illness
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. court — for sport
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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