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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.

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: cold · degree · content · pitcher · wax · file · key · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. file — a tool
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. degree — an amount
  6. key — the most important part
  7. wax — to grow
  8. key — for a lock
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — an illness
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. key — in music
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — from a university

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