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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kid — child
  3. wax — to grow
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. rest — a break
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. capital — a city
  12. rest — what's left
  13. spring — the season
  14. rest — what's left
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. vault — a safe
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. capital — money
  19. spring — of water
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. straw — dry grass

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