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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 116 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 · cold · shower · vault · wind · pitcher · mine · mouse

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. vault — a safe
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. pitcher — a jug

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