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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lean — thin
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. file — a tool
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. vault — a safe
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. mug — a face
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. scale — size or range
  12. degree — temperature
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. lean — to bend
  15. mug — a cup
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. scale — in music
  18. file — a line of people
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. mug — to rob
  22. file — a document
  23. degree — an amount
  24. lean — to rest against

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