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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. dip — to sink
  3. kid — to tease
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — the time now
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spell — a short time
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. degree — an amount
  13. spell — letters
  14. rush — hurry
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. bass — the fish
  18. present — there
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. spell — magic
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. kid — child
  24. dip — a sauce

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