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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. degree — temperature
  5. key — in music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. stock — goods
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to confront
  11. scale — size or range
  12. key — for a lock
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — in music
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — shares
  22. key — the most important part
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cold — an illness

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