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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 120 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 spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. craft — a skill
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spring — the season
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. current — happening now
  7. vault — a safe
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. spring — a coil
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — an illness
  20. craft — boats
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. current — electric
  24. current — of water

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