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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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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 · degree · object · last · wax · vault · face · rush

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. shower — rain
  3. wax — to grow
  4. degree — temperature
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. last — final
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. object — to protest
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. vault — a safe
  16. object — a thing
  17. object — an aim
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. last — finally
  21. shower — to wash
  22. last — to go on
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. degree — an amount

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