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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. degree — from a university
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. season — in sport
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. march — the month
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. wax — to grow
  13. track — a path
  14. track — a song
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. net — in sport
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. march — music
  21. degree — an amount
  22. season — of the year
  23. track — to keep track
  24. chest — a box

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