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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. bound — obliged
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. field — farmland
  7. current — happening now
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. current — electric
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cold — not warm
  16. current — of water
  17. spell — letters
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. field — a subject
  20. spell — magic
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. field — for sport

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