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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · perch · wake · cold · wax · sharp · vault · board

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. board — a committee
  2. board — to get on
  3. shower — rain
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — not warm
  9. perch — the fish
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. vault — a safe
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wake — a trail
  21. cold — an illness
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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