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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 124 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. saw — the tool
  4. key — for a lock
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wax — to grow
  7. mug — a face
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. lean — to bend
  10. stem — to come from
  11. mug — to rob
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. lean — thin
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. key — the most important part
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chest — of your body
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. mug — a cup
  23. key — in music
  24. wax — in the ear

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