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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. present — the time now
  3. wax — to grow
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. chest — of your body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. degree — temperature
  9. row — a line
  10. bat — the animal
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. row — to paddle
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chest — a box

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