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

Word bank: race · wind · degree · pit · vault · straw

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. vault — a safe
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. race — humankind
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. degree — an amount
  11. race — the arms race
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. race — a contest
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pit — in a race
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pit — a hole
  18. straw — dry grass

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