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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. current — of water
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. key — for a lock
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. key — in music
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. can — a tin
  18. wax — to grow
  19. degree — temperature
  20. current — happening now
  21. kick — in football
  22. current — electric
  23. pound — a weight
  24. cold — the Cold War

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