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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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Word bank
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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 · fan · wound · court · coach · degree · lean · wave

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. court — for sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — an amount
  8. lean — thin
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. lean — to bend
  11. court — of a king
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. degree — temperature
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. court — of law
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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