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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. kid — to tease
  9. saw — the tool
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. pitch — completely
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. kid — child
  24. hide — animal skin

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