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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: mark · degree · fall · vault · wake · patient · straw · cell

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. fall — the season
  6. fall — to drop
  7. vault — a safe
  8. fall — to drop
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wake — a trail
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cell — in biology
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. mark — a trace
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. mark — a grade
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cell — in a prison

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