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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. capital — money
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. tube — the underground
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. key — for a lock
  7. vault — a safe
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. capital — a city
  11. file — a tool
  12. lie — to recline
  13. key — the most important part
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. degree — from a university
  20. tube — a container
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. key — in music
  24. degree — an amount

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