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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cap — of ice
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wax — to grow
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. prune — to trim
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. vault — a safe
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. cap — a lid
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cap — a hat
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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