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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. degree — an amount
  3. last — to go on
  4. pop — to visit
  5. last — finally
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. track — a path
  9. track — a song
  10. stock — shares
  11. pop — music
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pop — soda
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. stock — goods
  19. track — to keep track
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. last — final

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