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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. degree — from a university
  6. spring — a coil
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. snap — to click
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. spring — of water
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. face — to confront
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. spring — the season
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — part of the head
  21. degree — temperature
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pitch — completely

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