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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 116 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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. field — farmland
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. net — in sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. vault — a safe
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — an amount
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — for sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — a subject
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. content — happy
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. row — a line
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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