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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 120 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: degree · spring · vault · cell · bark · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. press — newspapers
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bark — to shout
  6. degree — temperature
  7. press — to push
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cell — a phone
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. bark — of a tree

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