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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: mine · degree · pass · snap · vault · club · cold · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — for digging
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. vault — a safe
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — the month
  8. degree — from a university
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. club — for golf
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pass — a permit
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. march — music
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. club — for dancing
  20. degree — temperature
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. club — a group

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