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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: lean · squash · rock · wax · race · vault · degree · game

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. lean — to bend
  3. degree — from a university
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. degree — an amount
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. race — the arms race
  10. squash — to crush
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. rock — music
  14. lean — thin
  15. game — a match
  16. vault — a safe
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — temperature
  19. race — humankind
  20. rock — a stone
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. game — wild animals
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. wax — to grow

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