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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. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. march — the month
  3. wax — to grow
  4. current — happening now
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. degree — an amount
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — in sport
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mate — to breed
  13. mug — a cup
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. mug — a face
  18. season — of the year
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. march — the month
  21. saw — the tool
  22. march — music
  23. current — electric
  24. mug — to rob

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