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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 124 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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. board — to get on
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wax — to grow
  10. present — there
  11. land — to come down
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. kid — child
  17. degree — from a university
  18. present — a gift
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. land — a country
  21. kid — to tease
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — a committee
  24. present — the time now

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