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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: cold · degree · fan · row · vault · fork · fall · arm

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  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. arm — a part of something
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. row — to paddle
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. fall — the season
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. vault — a safe
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — not warm
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fan — to cool the air
  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