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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: wind · vault · prune · swing · degree · chair · tear · fan

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. tear — to rip
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. prune — to trim
  12. vault — a safe
  13. swing — music
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — from crying
  17. prune — to trim
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wind — moving air
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. chair — a leader
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wind — to turn a key

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