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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 120 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 tickets are free of ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. present — the time now
  10. charge — in control
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. spring — the season
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mine — for digging
  17. spring — of water
  18. degree — an amount
  19. charge — electricity
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. spring — a coil
  22. present — a gift
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. present — there

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