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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 ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — an arched ceiling
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. vault — a safe
  5. tube — a container
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. band — a ring
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. tube — the underground
  11. rash — a series
  12. mine — for digging
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rash — hasty
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. band — a music group
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. wax — to grow
  24. race — the arms race

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