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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. degree — from a university
  3. club — for golf
  4. degree — an amount
  5. last — finally
  6. club — a group
  7. last — final
  8. key — the most important part
  9. mate — to breed
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mate — a friend
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — in music
  17. last — to go on
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — hasty
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pass — a permit

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