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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. perch — the fish
  3. last — final
  4. file — a line of people
  5. game — a match
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. last — to go on
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. file — a tool
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — wild animals
  13. vault — a safe
  14. file — a document
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. dip — to sink
  18. scale — size or range
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wax — to grow
  21. scale — in music
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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