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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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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: pound · pitcher · straw · degree · wind · season · wax · cold

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wax — to grow
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — of the year
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. season — in sport

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