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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. march — the month
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. band — a ring
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wax — to grow
  8. band — a music group
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. sharp — clever
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. march — the month
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wake — a trail
  21. march — music
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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