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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: leaves · hand · net · chest · rest · vault · wound · degree

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. net — for catching
  3. rest — what's left
  4. chest — of your body
  5. vault — a safe
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. net — after costs
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. net — in sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wound — an injury
  15. hand — help
  16. chest — a box
  17. degree — an amount
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. hand — in cards
  23. degree — from a university
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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