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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: race · cell · rest · content · object · degree · wind · vault

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. rest — a break
  3. object — to protest
  4. rest — what's left
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. content — the amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rest — what's left
  9. content — happy
  10. wind — moving air
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — an aim
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. race — humankind
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. race — the arms race
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cell — in biology
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. degree — an amount
  24. race — a contest

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