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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pop — to visit
  4. cap — of ice
  5. degree — an amount
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. bark — to shout
  8. field — for sport
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — temperature
  14. field — a subject
  15. kid — child
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. pop — music
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. cap — a hat
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. degree — from a university
  23. vault — a safe
  24. pop — soda

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