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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: chip · last · vault · temple · wax · squash · cell · season

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. vault — a safe
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cell — a phone
  7. squash — to crush
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. cell — in biology
  10. last — to go on
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. wax — to grow
  14. chip — for betting
  15. season — in sport
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. chip — to eat
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. season — of the year
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — the vegetable

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