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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 116 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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. vault — a safe
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. track — a song
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mug — a face
  8. cold — an illness
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wax — to grow
  19. track — to keep track
  20. dip — to sink
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mug — to rob
  23. field — a subject
  24. track — a path

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