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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. degree — an amount
  3. charge — electricity
  4. wax — to grow
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cap — a hat
  9. file — a tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. charge — a price
  13. staff — employees
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. staff — a stick
  16. staff — employees
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cap — of ice
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bark — to shout
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — help
  24. file — a line of people

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