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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. net — after costs
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. net — in sport
  16. stem — to come from
  17. wax — to grow
  18. net — for catching
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chair — a leader
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. chest — of your body

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