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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. file — a tool
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. vault — a safe
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. capital — a city
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. track — a path
  16. rule — government
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. file — a document
  19. file — a line of people
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. last — final
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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