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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. land — to come down
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. ground — the earth
  8. land — ground
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. ground — a position
  11. land — a country
  12. wax — to grow
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. vault — a safe
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — from a university
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. degree — an amount
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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