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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: wind · degree · bore · wax · bear · file · vault · object

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. object — to protest
  3. vault — a safe
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. object — an aim
  7. bore — to tire
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. object — a thing
  17. file — a tool
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. file — a document
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bore — to drill
  24. bear — the animal

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