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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: vault · degree · cabinet · cold · lash · racket · chest · roll

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. vault — a safe
  3. cold — an illness
  4. roll — a cake
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. roll — a list
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — an amount
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. degree — from a university
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. degree — temperature
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. cabinet — ministers

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