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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. ball — a great time
  3. spell — magic
  4. court — for sport
  5. degree — an amount
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. hand — in cards
  8. ball — a dance
  9. dip — to sink
  10. court — of a king
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. degree — temperature
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. last — final
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. last — to go on
  17. spell — letters
  18. hand — help
  19. court — of law
  20. vault — a safe
  21. degree — from a university
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. spell — a short time
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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