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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. club — for golf
  4. vault — a safe
  5. chest — a box
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bass — the fish
  10. degree — from a university
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. club — a group
  15. bass — low music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. club — for dancing

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