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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: shower · date · lash · wax · vault · cap · fork · degree

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  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. date — on the calendar
  2. cap — a hat
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. degree — temperature
  8. vault — a safe
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. wax — to grow
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cap — of ice
  14. shower — to wash
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. fork — in a road
  17. date — the fruit
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — from a university
  22. shower — rain
  23. cap — a lid
  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