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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · bulb · march · degree · wax · chair · wave · file

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. march — the month
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a document
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. spring — of water
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chair — a leader
  21. bulb — for light
  22. march — music
  23. bulb — for light
  24. chair — to sit on

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