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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. dip — to sink
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. net — for catching
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — in sport
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. lie — to recline
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wax — to grow
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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