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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. craft — boats
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. degree — an amount
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. craft — a skill
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wax — to grow
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. patient — a sick person

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