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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chip — for betting
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wind — moving air
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — in cards
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fall — the season
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. chip — to eat
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. fall — to drop
  22. wax — to grow
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wax — in the ear

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