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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: tear · key · degree · vault · stem · bat

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. key — the most important part
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bat — the animal
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. stem — to come from
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. key — in music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. degree — an amount
  16. vault — a safe
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature

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