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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. last — final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. can — to be able to
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. can — a tin
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. clip — to cut
  13. degree — temperature
  14. saw — the tool
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — for paper
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. vault — a safe
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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