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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. field — farmland
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — the season
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. lean — to bend
  10. kid — child
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. lean — thin
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. wax — to grow
  17. rush — hurry
  18. kid — to tease
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. lean — to rest against

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