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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. field — farmland
  6. rest — a break
  7. shower — rain
  8. vault — a safe
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. field — a subject
  11. branch — a division
  12. degree — temperature
  13. field — for sport
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. scale — size or range
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — to wash
  21. scale — in music
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. rest — what's left
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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