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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. rest — a break
  6. wake — a trail
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cold — an illness
  10. degree — an amount
  11. charge — a price
  12. rest — what's left
  13. charge — electricity
  14. cold — not warm
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. rest — what's left
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. chip — to eat
  24. charge — in control

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