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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. rash — hasty
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. rash — a series
  8. cue — for pool
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — after costs
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. spring — the season
  21. pound — a weight
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cue — a hint

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