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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. vault — a safe
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wake — a trail
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. capital — a city
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. bat — the animal
  11. last — final
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. capital — money
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cell — in biology
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. cell — a phone
  21. last — finally
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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