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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: degree · chest · kid · last · vault · wake

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. last — to go on
  3. chest — of your body
  4. vault — a safe
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wake — a trail
  7. kid — child
  8. last — final
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. chest — a box
  17. last — finally
  18. chest — of your body

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