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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · spring · arm · scale · foot · degree · prune · mine

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. prune — to trim
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. spring — the season
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. spring — a coil
  15. spring — of water
  16. mine — for digging
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — in music
  20. foot — a measure
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. degree — temperature
  24. vault — a safe

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