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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: hand · vault · spring · degree · trunk · wake · pitcher · chair

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. spring — the season
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. wake — a trail
  9. spring — of water
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. hand — in cards
  13. degree — from a university
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. vault — a safe
  22. hand — help
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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