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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 120 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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  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. vault — a safe
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — to cut
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. fall — to drop
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — to wash
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. shower — rain
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wax — to grow
  19. fall — the season
  20. clip — a video
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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