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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: cabinet · vault · degree · court · row · deal · scale · file

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. file — a tool
  3. degree — an amount
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. file — a line of people
  6. scale — size or range
  7. court — of a king
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. court — of law
  12. vault — a safe
  13. scale — in music
  14. file — a document
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. degree — temperature
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. court — for sport

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