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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. pop — soda
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. pop — music
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bore — to drill
  7. present — there
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bore — to tire
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. present — a gift
  16. degree — temperature
  17. net — for catching
  18. degree — from a university
  19. present — the time now
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. net — after costs

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