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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bank — for money
  5. pit — a hole
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cap — a lid
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lie — to recline
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bank — for money
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. bank — of a river
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cap — of ice
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. spring — the season

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