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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: file · rule · kid · vault · degree · wave · ball · tear

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. vault — a safe
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. degree — temperature
  10. ball — a great time
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. ball — a dance
  14. file — a tool
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. tear — from crying
  17. file — a document
  18. rule — government
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. file — a line of people
  21. kid — child
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. degree — from a university

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