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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — from a university
  6. file — a tool
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. degree — an amount
  11. file — a document
  12. cold — not warm
  13. file — a line of people
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. wax — to grow
  21. degree — temperature
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. kick — in football
  24. cabinet — ministers

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