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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bark — to shout
  9. root — the cause
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. degree — temperature
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. root — of a word
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. spell — magic
  24. wind — moving air

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