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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. drill — a practice
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. drill — the tool
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fall — to drop
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. board — to get on
  10. drill — army training
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. degree — temperature
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wake — a trail
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. board — a committee

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