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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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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: craft · clip · vault · sharp · lash · degree · perch · chair

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  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. craft — boats
  2. degree — an amount
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — a safe
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. chair — a leader
  10. degree — from a university
  11. craft — a skill
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. clip — for paper
  17. perch — the fish
  18. clip — to cut
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. clip — a video
  21. sharp — clever
  22. degree — temperature
  23. perch — for a bird
  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