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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pop — soda
  4. degree — from a university
  5. spring — a coil
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cell — in biology
  9. spring — the season
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pop — music
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. file — a document
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. file — a tool
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. file — a line of people
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pop — to visit
  23. cell — a phone
  24. spring — of water

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