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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. court — for sport
  3. fine — all right
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wound — an injury
  6. can — a tin
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. court — of a king
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. degree — temperature
  11. court — of law
  12. wake — a trail
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. vault — a safe
  17. wound — an injury
  18. can — to be able to
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. can — a tin
  22. degree — from a university
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. kid — child

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