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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. vault — a safe
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wake — a trail
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — from a university
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. swing — music

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