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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. press — a publisher
  3. present — a gift
  4. ball — a dance
  5. degree — from a university
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. press — to push
  10. wax — to grow
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. present — there
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — in sport
  16. degree — temperature
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — an amount
  19. present — the time now
  20. press — newspapers
  21. season — of the year
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. ball — a great time
  24. cold — an illness

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