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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 116 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. field — for sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. degree — an amount
  9. staff — a stick
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. degree — temperature
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. net — for catching
  14. cold — not warm
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — employees
  17. field — farmland
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. degree — from a university
  20. field — a subject
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — after costs
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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