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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rash — a series
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tear — from crying
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. squash — to crush

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