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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. charge — in control
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. charge — a price
  13. hand — help
  14. wax — to grow
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. prune — to trim
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. vault — a safe
  24. charge — electricity

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