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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rest — what's left
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cell — a phone
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. deal — to handle
  16. wax — to grow
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cell — in biology

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