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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. press — to push
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. wax — to grow
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. press — newspapers
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. race — humankind
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. dip — to sink
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. race — a contest
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. press — a publisher
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wave — of the sea

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