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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bank — of a river
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wax — to grow
  7. tube — a container
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — an amount
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. face — part of the head
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ball — a dance
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bank — for money
  20. kid — child
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. tube — the underground
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bank — for money

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