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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 116 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. degree — an amount
  3. swing — in golf
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. snap — to click
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. cold — an illness
  11. squash — the sport
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. degree — temperature
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. swing — music
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wax — to grow
  20. chair — a leader
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cold — not warm
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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