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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. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. wax — to grow
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. vault — a safe
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. last — to go on
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. shower — to wash
  11. rest — a break
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. roll — a cake
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. roll — a list
  21. shower — rain
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. mine — an explosive

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