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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. game — wild animals
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. charge — a price
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. charge — electricity
  11. ground — a position
  12. game — a match
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. ground — crushed
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. degree — from a university
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. charge — in control
  24. date — the fruit

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