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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cap — of ice
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. rash — a series
  9. degree — an amount
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chip — to eat
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cap — a lid
  20. chip — for betting
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cap — a hat
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. nail — for a hammer

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