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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mark — a trace
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mark — a grade
  6. rash — a series
  7. shower — rain
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. club — for golf
  17. rash — hasty
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. degree — temperature
  21. club — a group
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. club — for dancing
  24. degree — from a university

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