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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.

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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. degree — temperature
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. wax — to grow
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. root — of a plant
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. root — of a word
  12. degree — from a university
  13. snap — to click
  14. plane — a tool
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. date — the fruit
  19. root — the cause
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. degree — an amount
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. land — a country
  24. sharp — exactly

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