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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. vault — a safe
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cell — a phone
  7. ground — a position
  8. cell — in biology
  9. ground — crushed
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. degree — from a university
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — an amount
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. degree — temperature
  23. hand — help
  24. swing — in golf

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