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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. cell — a phone
  5. degree — from a university
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cell — in biology
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bore — to drill
  13. march — the month
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. capital — a city
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. capital — money
  22. wax — to grow
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cell — in a prison

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