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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — to grow
  3. tube — a container
  4. capital — money
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. capital — a city
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. charge — in control
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. tube — the underground
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. charge — electricity
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. cold — an illness
  24. charge — a price

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