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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: cold · snap · kick · degree · nail · cap · track · vault

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cap — a hat
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. track — to keep track
  10. vault — a safe
  11. cap — a lid
  12. kick — in football
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. track — a path
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — temperature
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. cap — of ice
  23. track — a song
  24. degree — an amount

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