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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 116 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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pop — soda
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. degree — from a university
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. race — a contest
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to bend
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. pop — music
  15. race — humankind
  16. degree — an amount
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. wax — to grow
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pitch — completely
  24. degree — temperature

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