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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 120 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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pass — a permit
  4. vault — a safe
  5. cold — not warm
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. file — a tool
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. band — a music group
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. band — a ring
  20. file — a line of people
  21. wax — to grow
  22. file — a document
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wax — in the ear

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