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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 120 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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. degree — temperature
  3. wound — an injury
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wound — an injury
  10. craft — boats
  11. lean — to bend
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. scale — size or range
  15. sharp — clever
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. lean — thin
  18. degree — from a university
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. scale — in music
  22. craft — a skill
  23. degree — an amount
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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