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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. net — for catching
  5. march — the month
  6. wax — to grow
  7. march — music
  8. hand — help
  9. net — after costs
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. hand — in cards
  14. kick — in football
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — from a university
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. net — in sport
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. chair — a leader

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