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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.

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: clip · cabinet · wax · vault · cold · field · squash · last

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — to go on
  4. field — for sport
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. wax — to grow
  14. field — farmland
  15. last — final
  16. cold — not warm
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — to crush
  19. clip — for paper
  20. field — a subject
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. vault — a safe
  24. last — finally

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