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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: degree · jam · cold · tear · leaves · racket · pop · wax

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. pop — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. degree — an amount
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. degree — temperature
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. pop — to visit
  18. degree — from a university
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. pop — soda
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. tear — from crying

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