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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. club — for golf
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cold — not warm
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. bulb — for light
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wound — an injury
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bulb — for light
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. branch — a division
  18. vault — a safe
  19. kick — in football
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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