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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. chip — to eat
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. degree — an amount
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chip — for betting
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. wax — to grow
  12. cell — a phone
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — hurry
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pass — a permit
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. cell — in biology
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — in a road
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. mine — for digging

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