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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wax — to grow
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. stock — goods
  13. press — newspapers
  14. stock — shares
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bore — to tire
  17. press — to push
  18. hand — in cards
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bore — to drill
  23. press — a publisher
  24. degree — temperature

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