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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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Word bank
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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: chair · chip · wax · degree · shower · wake · spring · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wake — a trail
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chip — for betting
  6. spring — a coil
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. degree — from a university
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spring — the season
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mine — for digging
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chip — to eat
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. spring — of water
  20. chair — a leader
  21. wax — to grow
  22. degree — an amount
  23. shower — rain
  24. wake — before a funeral

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