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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: wake · vault · cold · date · row · degree · kick · stand

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. degree — from a university
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cold — not warm
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. kick — in football
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. row — to paddle
  10. vault — a safe
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. stand — to bear
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wake — a trail
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. row — a line
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — before a funeral

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