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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. degree — from a university
  3. spell — letters
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. band — a music group
  6. saw — the tool
  7. row — to paddle
  8. prune — to trim
  9. row — a line
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. degree — an amount
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spell — magic
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spell — a short time
  22. degree — temperature
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. wax — to grow

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