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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.

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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: wind · wax · snap · degree · hide · row · scale · wound

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. snap — to click
  4. wax — to grow
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. degree — from a university
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. scale — in music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. wind — moving air
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. wind — moving air
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. row — a line

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