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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. land — ground
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. degree — from a university
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wax — to grow
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — to come down
  12. ground — crushed
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. band — a ring
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. track — a song
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. land — a country
  24. patient — a sick person

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