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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. staff — employees
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. degree — an amount
  6. net — for catching
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. rush — hurry
  9. net — after costs
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — to grow
  12. staff — employees
  13. net — in sport
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. staff — a stick
  16. degree — from a university
  17. roll — a list
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. degree — temperature
  20. spell — magic
  21. spell — a short time
  22. spell — letters
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. roll — a cake

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