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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: last · vault · wax · date · kid · stock · perch · face

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. face — part of the head
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. face — to confront
  9. kid — to tease
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. face — to point toward
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — shares
  16. vault — a safe
  17. last — to go on
  18. kid — child
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. stock — goods
  22. wax — to grow
  23. perch — the fish
  24. last — finally

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