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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: nail · press · wax · degree · content · rock · cold · wave

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. content — happy
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. degree — from a university
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rock — music
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cold — an illness
  16. content — the amount
  17. cold — not warm
  18. press — to push
  19. degree — temperature
  20. press — a publisher
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. nail — for a hammer

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