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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. club — a group
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — a video
  7. club — for golf
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — from a university
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. degree — an amount
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. last — to go on
  17. plane — a tool
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. clip — for paper
  21. club — for dancing
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. vault — a safe

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