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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: vault · march · shower · pitcher · spring · wax · clip · bore

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — of water
  4. shower — rain
  5. spring — the season
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. bore — to drill
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. shower — to wash
  11. clip — a video
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bore — to tire
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. vault — a safe
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. clip — to cut
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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