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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 120 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 stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. squash — the sport
  3. pop — soda
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — to visit
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rush — hurry
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pop — music
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mouse — for a computer

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