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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: vault · court · date · pit · kid · degree · squash · rash

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. rash — a series
  3. court — for sport
  4. date — the fruit
  5. court — of a king
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. squash — to crush
  9. degree — temperature
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. pit — in a race
  12. degree — from a university
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — child
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. rash — hasty
  19. court — of law
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. vault — a safe
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. rash — on the skin

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