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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: mine · rest · cold · degree · march · lash · vault · spell

  1. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. degree — an amount
  3. vault — a safe
  4. rest — a break
  5. rest — what's left
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. spell — a short time
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spell — magic
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. degree — temperature
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. march — the month
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. spell — letters
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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