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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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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 · pit · stick · clip · chest · capital · staff · vault

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. chest — a box
  3. staff — employees
  4. clip — to cut
  5. capital — a city
  6. clip — for paper
  7. capital — money
  8. vault — a safe
  9. pit — a hole
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. degree — an amount
  15. clip — a video
  16. staff — employees
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chest — of your body
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pit — in a race
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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