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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 120 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. spell — letters
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. current — of water
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. current — happening now
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wax — to grow
  9. degree — from a university
  10. scale — in music
  11. current — electric
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pop — to visit
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. spell — a short time
  19. scale — size or range
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. spell — magic
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — soda

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