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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 best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. wax — to grow
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bass — low music
  10. ground — a position
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. ground — crushed
  15. degree — temperature
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bass — the fish
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — an amount
  22. file — a document
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. file — a tool

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