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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cell — a phone
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. vault — a safe
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. mark — a trace
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bat — the animal
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. mark — a grade
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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