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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. mark — a grade
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mark — a trace
  7. chest — a box
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rush — hurry
  15. kid — to tease
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. ball — a great time
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. chest — of your body
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wax — for sculpting

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