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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. land — a country
  3. swing — to play on
  4. vault — a safe
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. wax — to grow
  7. cold — an illness
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. swing — in golf
  23. snap — to click
  24. land — ground

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