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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. degree — from a university
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. scale — in music
  6. season — in sport
  7. snap — to click
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. degree — an amount
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. degree — temperature
  13. saw — the tool
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. scale — size or range
  17. press — to push
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. branch — a division
  20. press — a publisher
  21. saw — the tool
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. press — newspapers
  24. branch — of a bank

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