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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — an amount
  3. track — a song
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wax — to grow
  6. staff — a stick
  7. rest — what's left
  8. kid — child
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. degree — temperature
  11. net — in sport
  12. track — a path
  13. drill — the tool
  14. net — after costs
  15. drill — a practice
  16. net — for catching
  17. rest — what's left
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. staff — employees
  20. drill — army training
  21. track — to keep track
  22. staff — employees
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. rest — a break

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