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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. fine — all right
  3. vault — a safe
  4. cap — a hat
  5. shower — to wash
  6. file — a document
  7. cap — of ice
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wax — to grow
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. file — a line of people
  21. plane — a tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. cap — a lid

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