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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 a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wax — to grow
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. spring — the season
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. net — in sport
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. court — of law
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. fall — the season
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pitch — completely
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fall — to drop
  19. net — for catching
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. net — after costs
  24. spring — of water

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