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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cold — not warm
  4. field — a subject
  5. chip — for betting
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. vault — a safe
  9. craft — boats
  10. degree — an amount
  11. craft — a skill
  12. field — for sport
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chip — to eat
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. mug — to rob
  18. field — farmland
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mug — a face
  22. drill — army training
  23. mug — a cup
  24. degree — temperature

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