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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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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: rock · root · bat · date · cold · jam · vault · degree

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. root — of a plant
  7. degree — temperature
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. vault — a safe
  16. cold — not warm
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. root — the cause
  19. degree — an amount
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bat — the animal
  24. root — of a word

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