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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — music
  5. kick — in football
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. file — a document
  8. shower — to wash
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. file — a line of people
  13. saw — the tool
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. shower — rain
  16. degree — an amount
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pop — soda
  23. degree — from a university
  24. file — a tool

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