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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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 a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kid — child
  3. key — the most important part
  4. rock — a stone
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. key — in music
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wax — to grow
  17. key — for a lock
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rock — music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chest — a box
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to succeed

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