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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. dip — to sink
  9. file — a document
  10. wax — to grow
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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