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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — an amount
  5. charge — a price
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wound — an injury
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. degree — temperature
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spring — the season
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. charge — in control
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. charge — electricity
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. spring — of water
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. pitch — completely
  24. wax — to grow

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