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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wind — moving air
  4. firm — steady
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. race — humankind
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. board — to get on
  12. firm — a company
  13. lie — to recline
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wax — to grow
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. race — a contest
  19. degree — from a university
  20. race — the arms race
  21. board — a committee
  22. firm — decided
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. board — a flat piece

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