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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. degree — from a university
  6. vault — a safe
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. content — happy
  10. mark — a trace
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wax — to grow
  14. degree — an amount
  15. prune — to trim
  16. content — the amount
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mark — a grade
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. kid — child

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