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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: chip · degree · cap · stem · wound · wax · wake · cold

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. degree — temperature
  20. stem — to come from
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cap — a hat
  23. chip — to eat
  24. wound — an injury

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