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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 124 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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. deal — to handle
  8. chest — a box
  9. cell — in biology
  10. snap — to click
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. wax — to grow
  17. branch — a division
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. branch — of a bank

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