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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — from a university
  6. foot — a measure
  7. kid — to tease
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. degree — temperature
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. pound — a weight
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. vault — a safe
  22. rash — a series
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. racket — a loud noise

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