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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. band — a ring
  6. capital — a city
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wax — to grow
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. face — to confront
  15. vault — a safe
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. squash — to crush
  19. rash — hasty
  20. band — a music group
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. capital — money
  23. face — part of the head
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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