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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: degree · date · bound · rest · clip · last · mark · vault

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. clip — a video
  3. bound — obliged
  4. last — finally
  5. vault — a safe
  6. bound — tied together
  7. clip — for paper
  8. degree — an amount
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mark — a trace
  11. date — the fruit
  12. last — to go on
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rest — a break
  17. mark — a grade
  18. rest — what's left
  19. last — final
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. bound — certain
  24. rest — what's left

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