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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: ruler · face · bowl · cold · foot · degree · vault · tube

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. foot — a measure
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. face — to confront
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cold — not warm
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. face — part of the head
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. cold — an illness
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. tube — the underground
  17. face — to point toward
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. vault — a safe

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