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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. lie — to recline
  3. degree — from a university
  4. squash — to crush
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. squash — the sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. prune — to trim
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. prune — to trim
  16. vault — a safe
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. spring — the season
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. spring — of water
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. spring — a coil
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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