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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — a cake
  5. chest — of your body
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. club — a group
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. chest — of your body
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rash — hasty
  14. tear — to rip
  15. chest — a box
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. vault — a safe
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. tear — from crying
  21. snap — to click
  22. rash — a series
  23. club — for golf
  24. tear — from crying

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