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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'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. cold — not warm
  3. game — a match
  4. spring — the season
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. vault — a safe
  7. bore — to drill
  8. spring — a coil
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bore — to tire
  15. spring — of water
  16. game — wild animals
  17. firm — a company
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. firm — decided
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a great time

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