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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. prune — to trim
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cold — an illness
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. degree — temperature
  15. face — to confront
  16. prune — to trim
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wax — to grow
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. degree — an amount
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cold — not warm
  24. face — part of the head

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