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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. degree — an amount
  3. drill — the tool
  4. march — music
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. degree — from a university
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wax — to grow
  10. track — a path
  11. press — newspapers
  12. drill — army training
  13. march — the month
  14. track — a song
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. track — to keep track
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. march — the month
  19. drill — a practice
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. tear — to rip
  23. degree — temperature
  24. press — a publisher

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