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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. last — final
  6. last — to go on
  7. degree — from a university
  8. court — of a king
  9. vault — a safe
  10. last — finally
  11. wax — to grow
  12. court — of law
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. chest — a box
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. staff — a stick
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chest — of your body
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. chest — of your body

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