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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · wax · ground · perch · band · cell · degree · chair

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. ground — the earth
  6. cell — a phone
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. ground — a position
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. wax — to grow
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cell — in biology
  14. degree — an amount
  15. band — a music group
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. band — a ring
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. chair — a leader
  24. degree — temperature

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