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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wind — moving air
  7. tube — a container
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. degree — from a university
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bulb — for light
  12. tube — the underground
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — an amount
  16. ground — a position
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. ground — crushed
  19. wax — to grow
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bulb — of a plant

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