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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fall — to drop
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fall — the season
  6. land — ground
  7. bound — obliged
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fall — to drop
  10. can — a tin
  11. bound — tied together
  12. degree — an amount
  13. land — to come down
  14. can — a tin
  15. wax — to grow
  16. land — a country
  17. can — to be able to
  18. bound — certain
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — to push
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. degree — temperature

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