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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: degree · clip · court · last · vault · file · stand · key

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. key — for a lock
  3. court — for sport
  4. file — a document
  5. clip — a video
  6. stand — to bear
  7. clip — to cut
  8. key — in music
  9. vault — a safe
  10. last — finally
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. degree — from a university
  13. last — final
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. file — a line of people
  17. key — the most important part
  18. degree — temperature
  19. last — to go on
  20. clip — for paper
  21. degree — an amount
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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