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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 · foot · deal · wax · chest · rock · straw · net

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chest — of your body
  4. deal — to handle
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. wax — to grow
  8. chest — a box
  9. net — after costs
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. net — in sport
  13. foot — a measure
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rock — a stone
  16. degree — an amount
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rock — music
  23. net — for catching
  24. degree — from a university

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