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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 116 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 · race · wound · net · kid · vault

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kid — to tease
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. net — after costs
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — humankind
  9. vault — a safe
  10. net — for catching
  11. race — a contest
  12. net — in sport
  13. kid — child
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wound — an injury

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