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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. plane — a tool
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. hand — in cards
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. vault — a safe
  14. tear — to rip
  15. game — a match
  16. field — farmland
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. tear — from crying
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wax — in the ear

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