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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. spell — letters
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cue — for pool
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. degree — from a university
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. court — of a king
  12. vault — a safe
  13. court — for sport
  14. degree — an amount
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cue — a signal
  17. court — of law
  18. cue — a hint
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. spell — magic
  21. degree — temperature
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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