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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 120 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 · hide · wind · chest · branch · degree · bat

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. degree — from a university
  5. branch — a division
  6. chest — a box
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. degree — an amount
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wind — moving air
  17. degree — temperature
  18. vault — a safe
  19. wind — moving air
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. chest — of your body

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