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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — a country
  4. date — the fruit
  5. vault — a safe
  6. fall — the season
  7. clip — a video
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wax — to grow
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ground — a position
  15. land — to come down
  16. ground — crushed
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chest — a box
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. ground — the earth
  23. land — ground
  24. chest — of your body

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