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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wax — to grow
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. rule — government
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. key — in music
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. key — the most important part
  11. kid — to tease
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kid — child
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. key — for a lock
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rule — a law

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