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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. spell — letters
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. rash — hasty
  8. cue — a signal
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spell — magic
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cue — a hint
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cue — for pool
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. kid — child
  19. branch — a division
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — a series
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. wax — to grow
  24. degree — temperature

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