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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: chair · bat · degree · leaves · land · snap · wax · spring

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. spring — of water
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. wax — to grow
  11. spring — a coil
  12. land — a country
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. land — ground
  15. spring — the season
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. land — to come down
  19. snap — to click
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bat — in an idiom

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