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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. field — for sport
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. degree — temperature
  13. capital — money
  14. field — farmland
  15. wax — to grow
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. field — a subject
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. capital — a city

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