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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rash — hasty
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wax — to grow
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pound — a weight
  16. shower — to wash
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. shower — rain
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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