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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. hand — help
  5. mine — for digging
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cap — of ice
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cap — a lid
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wax — to grow
  21. stock — goods
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. trunk — of a car

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