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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ball — a great time
  4. degree — temperature
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. content — the amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. spring — a coil
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. content — happy
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — of water
  22. staff — employees
  23. ball — a dance
  24. wax — to grow

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