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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. band — a music group
  6. rush — hurry
  7. present — a gift
  8. season — of the year
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spring — the season
  12. wax — to grow
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. present — the time now
  15. spring — a coil
  16. band — a ring
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. mine — for digging
  20. present — there
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. season — in sport
  24. spring — of water

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