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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 120 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: branch · rock · vault · rash · pit · last · cold · wax

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rock — music
  4. last — finally
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — to grow
  7. rash — a series
  8. pit — in a race
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. last — final
  11. branch — a division
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. vault — a safe
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — to go on
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. rock — a stone
  20. cold — an illness
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. pit — a hole

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