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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 · craft · cold · rock · degree · object · vault · wound

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. object — a thing
  3. race — a contest
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. object — to protest
  6. cold — an illness
  7. craft — boats
  8. degree — from a university
  9. craft — a skill
  10. object — an aim
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — not warm
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. vault — a safe
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. race — humankind
  20. wound — an injury
  21. rock — a stone
  22. race — the arms race
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rock — to move gently

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