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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. saw — the tool
  10. ground — the earth
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. pass — a permit
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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