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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 116 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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. club — for golf
  7. content — the amount
  8. wax — to grow
  9. pass — a permit
  10. club — a group
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. net — in sport
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. degree — from a university
  15. content — happy
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. club — for dancing
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — for catching
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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