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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. staff — a stick
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. staff — employees
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. bulb — for light
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. staff — employees
  17. shower — rain
  18. wave — with your hand

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