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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. wax — to grow
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. current — electric
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — child
  9. chest — of your body
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. current — happening now
  13. current — of water
  14. branch — a division
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — a box
  17. dip — to sink
  18. kid — to tease
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. degree — an amount
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. craft — boats
  24. degree — from a university

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