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

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. squash — to crush
  3. spring — of water
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bore — to drill
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. root — of a word
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. clip — to cut
  16. stem — to come from
  17. spring — the season
  18. root — the cause
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. bore — to tire
  21. root — of a plant
  22. spring — a coil
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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