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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: hide · degree · wax · file · cabinet · cold · lash · hand

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. file — a line of people
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hand — help
  18. file — a document
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — an amount

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