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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: vault · court · degree · swing · last · saw · wax · hide

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. vault — a safe
  4. court — of law
  5. swing — in golf
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wax — to grow
  8. last — final
  9. swing — music
  10. court — for sport
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. saw — the tool
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. court — of a king
  21. saw — the tool
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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