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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cue — a hint
  4. cue — a signal
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. last — final
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. wind — moving air
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. wind — moving air
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cue — for pool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. wax — to grow
  23. stem — to come from
  24. vault — a safe

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