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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. season — of the year
  4. degree — an amount
  5. branch — a division
  6. wax — to grow
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. season — in sport
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. kick — in football
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kick — with a leg

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