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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 116 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mate — a partner
  3. game — wild animals
  4. last — finally
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. degree — from a university
  7. wax — to grow
  8. season — in sport
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. season — of the year
  11. degree — an amount
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. last — final
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mate — a friend
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. game — a match
  20. mate — to breed
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. degree — temperature
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. prune — to trim

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