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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bound — certain
  4. spell — magic
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. fall — the season
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spell — a short time
  11. ground — crushed
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. ground — the earth
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bound — tied together
  20. spell — letters
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fall — to drop
  23. ground — a position
  24. cell — in a prison

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