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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. wax — to grow
  3. last — final
  4. land — to come down
  5. drill — a practice
  6. degree — from a university
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. land — ground
  9. squash — to crush
  10. last — to go on
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. land — a country
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. squash — the sport
  18. degree — an amount

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