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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 116 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: board · cold · snap · degree · wax · ruler · sharp · press

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. board — a committee
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. press — to push
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wax — to grow
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. press — newspapers
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. board — to get on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — not warm
  21. sharp — clever
  22. press — a publisher
  23. degree — temperature
  24. snap — to click

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