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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rash — a series
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pit — a hole
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. pit — in a race
  14. degree — an amount
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rush — hurry
  19. degree — temperature
  20. rash — hasty
  21. kid — child
  22. chair — a leader
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. chair — a professorship

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