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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: bound · wax · cold · vault · bat · fall · bank · shower

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. vault — a safe
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. cold — an illness
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. wax — to grow
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bank — for money
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bank — for money
  20. fall — the season
  21. bound — tied together
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — certain

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