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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: patient · race · vault · march · ball · lean · degree · last

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. ball — a great time
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. vault — a safe
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — the month
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. degree — an amount
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. lean — thin
  13. last — final
  14. march — music
  15. last — to go on
  16. lean — to bend
  17. last — finally
  18. race — a contest
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. march — the month
  21. race — the arms race
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. ball — a dance
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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