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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: wax · mine · mug · degree · wound · court · spring · season

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mug — a face
  6. season — of the year
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wound — an injury
  9. court — of a king
  10. spring — of water
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. spring — the season
  15. degree — an amount
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — for sport
  20. mug — to rob
  21. season — in sport
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — of law
  24. spring — a coil

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