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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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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lean — thin
  3. face — part of the head
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — from a university
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. season — of the year
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. face — to confront
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. season — in sport
  17. face — to point toward
  18. lean — to bend

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