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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wax — to grow
  9. bat — the animal
  10. rest — a break
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. snap — to click
  20. degree — an amount
  21. fall — the season
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. plane — a tool
  24. march — the month

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