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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: cold · degree · cell · stock · vault · mug

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mug — to rob
  5. stock — goods
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. mug — a face
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. vault — a safe
  15. degree — temperature
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. stock — shares
  18. degree — an amount

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