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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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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: cue · vault · cold · craft · bat · snap · content · wax

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. 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. wax — in the ear
  2. craft — boats
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. snap — to click
  5. vault — a safe
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cue — a signal
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. content — the amount
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. cue — for pool
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cold — not warm
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cue — a hint
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. craft — a skill
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. 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