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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 120 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wax — to grow
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. charge — in control
  10. present — a gift
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. charge — electricity
  13. present — the time now
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. dip — to sink
  22. degree — an amount
  23. present — there
  24. last — finally

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