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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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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: pitcher · mouse · mark · straw · field · degree · cold · vault

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mark — a grade
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — temperature
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mark — a trace
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. field — farmland
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — for sport
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. vault — a safe
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. mouse — for a computer

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