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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. stand — to bear
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. net — after costs
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. wax — to grow
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. net — in sport
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. net — for catching
  18. bat — the animal
  19. degree — temperature
  20. toast — bread
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. straw — dry grass

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