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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. 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. key — for a lock
  2. rest — what's left
  3. key — the most important part
  4. club — for golf
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. vault — a safe
  8. cold — not warm
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. cold — an illness
  12. club — for dancing
  13. rest — a break
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. key — in music
  18. 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