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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. wax — to grow
  3. prune — to trim
  4. can — a tin
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. capital — a city
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. toast — bread
  15. kid — to tease
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. capital — money
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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