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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. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  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. jam — in traffic
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spell — a short time
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cold — not warm
  13. spell — letters
  14. prune — to trim
  15. spell — magic
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. jam — a tight spot
  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