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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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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: vault · degree · swing · sharp · court · scale · net · hand

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. vault — a safe
  4. scale — size or range
  5. court — for sport
  6. sharp — clever
  7. scale — in music
  8. court — of a king
  9. hand — help
  10. degree — an amount
  11. net — after costs
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. court — of law
  14. net — in sport
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. degree — from a university
  17. swing — to play on
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. hand — in cards
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. degree — temperature
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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