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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wax — to grow
  6. mug — a cup
  7. mug — a face
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. current — of water
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. mug — to rob
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — hasty
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. current — electric
  24. current — happening now

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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