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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. hand — in cards
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — to grow
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — a subject
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. staff — employees
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. hand — help
  15. rock — a stone
  16. field — farmland
  17. rock — music
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — from a university
  22. field — for sport
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. degree — an amount

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