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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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Word bank
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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. court — for sport
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. court — of law
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. vault — a safe
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. court — of a king
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rule — a law
  18. row — to paddle
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rule — government
  21. degree — from a university
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. degree — an amount
  24. row — a line

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