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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 116 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. vault — a safe
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — a match
  11. press — to push
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. last — final
  14. rash — a series
  15. game — wild animals
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. net — for catching
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. press — a publisher
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. press — newspapers

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