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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: fall · ground · mark · chest · degree · vault · shower · snap

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. chest — of your body
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. shower — to wash
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fall — to drop
  8. shower — rain
  9. vault — a safe
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. ground — the earth
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. ground — a position
  16. fall — the season
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chest — of your body
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. mark — a trace
  22. chest — a box
  23. fall — to drop
  24. snap — to click

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