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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. cold — not warm
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. band — a music group
  9. drill — a practice
  10. current — of water
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. band — a ring
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. degree — temperature
  18. current — happening now
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. current — electric
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. cold — an illness

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