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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 water is too ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. dip — to sink
  3. wax — to grow
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. degree — an amount
  7. season — in sport
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. degree — temperature
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. net — after costs
  17. staff — employees
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — a stick
  23. net — for catching
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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