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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · mug · wind · vault · clip · degree

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. 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. vault — a safe
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mug — a face
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — temperature
  7. clip — a video
  8. field — a subject
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mug — a cup
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. mug — to rob
  15. field — farmland
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. 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