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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. pop — to visit
  3. season — of the year
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. degree — temperature
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. pop — music
  9. wax — to grow
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — from a university
  16. pop — soda
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — of law
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — to paddle
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — for a computer

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