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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: tear · vault · last · spell · court · rule · lean · degree

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. degree — an amount
  3. lean — thin
  4. degree — temperature
  5. court — for sport
  6. last — to go on
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — from a university
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rule — government
  13. lean — to bend
  14. court — of a king
  15. spell — a short time
  16. last — final
  17. last — finally
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. court — of law
  23. vault — a safe
  24. tear — to rip

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