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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: vault · date · mark · ground · toast · cell · swing · wax

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  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. toast — the most admired
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. ground — a position
  7. toast — bread
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. cell — a phone
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mark — a trace
  13. swing — in golf
  14. ground — crushed
  15. ground — the earth
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. date — the fruit
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. vault — a safe
  20. mark — a grade
  21. cell — in biology
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — music
  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