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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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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: degree · vault · cue · chest · row · cold · stock · spell

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. spell — letters
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stock — goods
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. vault — a safe
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. spell — magic
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cue — a hint
  18. chest — a box
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cue — for pool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. degree — an amount
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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