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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. deal — to handle
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pop — music
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. current — happening now
  8. degree — from a university
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. mug — to rob
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mug — a face
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — soda
  18. mug — a cup
  19. perch — the fish
  20. wax — to grow
  21. current — electric
  22. current — of water
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wax — for sculpting

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