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

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. tube — a container
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. ground — crushed
  8. degree — an amount
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bore — to drill
  15. ground — a position
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tube — the underground
  18. wax — to grow
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — to tease
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. degree — from a university
  24. ground — the earth

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