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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. rock — music
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. lie — to recline
  13. rock — a stone
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bass — the fish
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bass — low music

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