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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: degree · straw · march · press · pound · ball · snap · vault

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pound — a weight
  4. degree — from a university
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. ball — a great time
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. degree — an amount
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. march — the month
  14. ball — a dance
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. march — the month
  17. press — to push
  18. vault — a safe
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. degree — temperature
  21. march — music
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. snap — to click
  24. pound — to hit hard

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