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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 · firm · squash · spring · chest · court · date · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. spring — of water
  6. firm — decided
  7. chest — a box
  8. degree — temperature
  9. squash — the sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. spring — a coil
  12. firm — steady
  13. date — the fruit
  14. squash — to crush
  15. court — of law
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. court — for sport
  18. firm — a company
  19. degree — an amount
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spring — the season
  23. wax — to grow
  24. squash — the vegetable

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