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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — to grow
  3. track — a song
  4. mug — to rob
  5. tube — the underground
  6. field — for sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mug — a face
  9. track — to keep track
  10. field — a subject
  11. mug — a cup
  12. clip — for paper
  13. tube — a container
  14. board — a committee
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. field — farmland
  18. degree — temperature
  19. board — to get on
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. track — a path

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