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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.

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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: shower · content · wax · squash · dip · degree · pitch · spell

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — to grow
  3. spell — letters
  4. content — the amount
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. degree — an amount
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. spell — magic
  15. degree — temperature
  16. dip — to sink
  17. content — happy
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spell — a short time
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. dip — a sauce

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