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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. swing — to play on
  4. mine — for digging
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. squash — the sport
  8. vault — a safe
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. degree — temperature
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. swing — music
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. swing — in golf
  16. snap — to click
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wax — to grow
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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