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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. craft — a skill
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wax — to grow
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. pop — soda
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pop — music
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pop — to visit
  18. cell — in biology
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. bat — the animal
  22. craft — boats
  23. vault — a safe
  24. squash — the vegetable

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