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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. fine — high quality
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wax — to grow
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. chair — a leader
  11. mate — a friend
  12. fine — all right
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. land — to come down
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. stem — to come from
  18. mate — a partner
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. sharp — clever
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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