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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bound — obliged
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. branch — a division
  9. cap — a hat
  10. wax — to grow
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. cap — a lid
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. content — happy
  17. cold — an illness
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. cap — of ice
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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