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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. degree — from a university
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stem — to come from
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. mug — a cup
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. wax — to grow
  11. mug — to rob
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mug — a face
  16. date — the fruit
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. perch — the fish
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wind — moving air
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wax — in the ear

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