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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cap — a hat
  5. degree — from a university
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. ground — a position
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cell — a phone
  11. spell — a short time
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. spell — magic
  18. wax — to grow
  19. degree — an amount
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. ground — the earth
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cap — of ice
  24. spell — letters

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