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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hand — help
  6. mate — a friend
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bound — certain
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bound — obliged
  13. mate — to breed
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bound — tied together
  16. scale — in music
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. scale — size or range
  21. mate — a partner
  22. degree — from a university
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. wax — to grow

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