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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 · craft · bear · degree · wound · tear · last · shower

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wound — an injury
  3. shower — to wash
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wound — an injury
  6. last — to go on
  7. craft — a skill
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. vault — a safe
  11. tear — to rip
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. last — finally
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. degree — temperature
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bear — the animal
  20. last — final
  21. craft — boats
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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