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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 120 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: shower · mine · kick · wax · present · vault · fork · degree

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. fork — in a road
  4. kick — in football
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. wax — to grow
  8. degree — an amount
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. shower — rain
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. shower — to wash
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. present — a gift
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. present — the time now
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. present — there

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