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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. root — of a plant
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. degree — temperature
  10. root — of a word
  11. shower — rain
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. dip — to sink
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. drill — the tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. root — the cause
  20. degree — from a university
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — a practice
  23. wax — to grow
  24. drill — army training

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