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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. game — a match
  3. swing — in golf
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. swing — to play on
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. wind — moving air
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. last — finally
  14. game — wild animals
  15. court — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. swing — music
  18. court — of law
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. court — of a king
  24. ruler — for measuring

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