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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: vault · court · mate · game · can · wound · degree · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. degree — from a university
  3. mate — a partner
  4. can — a tin
  5. court — of law
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. vault — a safe
  8. wound — an injury
  9. can — to be able to
  10. court — for sport
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. game — wild animals
  13. court — of a king
  14. can — a tin
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. game — a match
  17. mate — a friend
  18. tube — the underground
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. wound — an injury
  21. degree — temperature
  22. mate — to breed
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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