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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. degree — an amount
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. chair — a leader
  8. degree — temperature
  9. march — music
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. degree — from a university
  16. bear — the animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bear — the animal
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. tear — to rip

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