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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. key — the most important part
  3. tube — a container
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pass — a permit
  6. object — an aim
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. key — for a lock
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. object — a thing
  16. tube — the underground
  17. object — to protest
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. key — in music
  22. band — a music group
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. band — a ring

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