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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. cap — a hat
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. degree — temperature
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. foot — a measure
  20. cap — of ice
  21. toast — bread
  22. ball — a dance
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wax — for sculpting

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