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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: pitcher · trunk · snap · degree · roll · shower · cell · vault

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. vault — a safe
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cell — in biology
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. degree — temperature
  13. snap — to click
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. cell — a phone
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — a cake
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. degree — from a university

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