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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
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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 · craft · pit · cold · degree · charge · face · clip

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pit — a hole
  5. craft — boats
  6. wax — to grow
  7. degree — from a university
  8. face — to point toward
  9. craft — a skill
  10. face — to confront
  11. pit — in a race
  12. cold — not warm
  13. degree — an amount
  14. face — part of the head
  15. charge — in control
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. clip — a video
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. charge — a price
  20. clip — for paper
  21. charge — electricity
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. cold — an illness

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