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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — boats
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. craft — a skill
  16. row — to paddle
  17. vault — a safe
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. chest — a box
  22. row — a line
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wax — to grow

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