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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pass — a permit
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. clip — to cut
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. fork — in a road
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pound — a weight
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. degree — from a university
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. date — the fruit
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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