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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: tear · capital · vault · degree · lie · field

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — to rip
  3. lie — to recline
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — a safe
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. degree — from a university
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — a subject
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. field — farmland
  18. lie — an untruth

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