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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: kid · ground · wax · club · face · cold · degree · suit

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — to grow
  4. face — to confront
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. cold — an illness
  7. degree — an amount
  8. ground — crushed
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — to tease
  11. face — to point toward
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. ground — a position
  15. club — for dancing
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. face — part of the head
  18. club — a group
  19. degree — temperature
  20. suit — clothes
  21. kid — child
  22. suit — in cards
  23. cold — not warm
  24. club — for golf

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