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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · cell · chair · mark · vault · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mark — a trace
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wax — to grow
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. mark — a grade
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. vault — a safe
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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