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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. rash — hasty
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. degree — from a university
  10. drill — army training
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. prune — to trim
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. rash — a series
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. stock — shares
  20. drill — the tool
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. drill — a practice
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. wax — to grow

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