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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: racket · kid · clip · bank · foot · vault · last · degree

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bank — of a river
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. vault — a safe
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bank — for money
  7. foot — a measure
  8. last — final
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. clip — to cut
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. degree — an amount
  20. clip — for paper
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — finally
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. clip — a video

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