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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: vault · capital · degree · trunk · tear · club · face · snap

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. vault — a safe
  3. degree — temperature
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. degree — an amount
  8. face — to confront
  9. capital — a city
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — from a university
  12. club — for dancing
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. club — for golf
  15. face — part of the head
  16. tear — from crying
  17. face — to point toward
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to click
  21. capital — money
  22. club — a group
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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