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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — a law
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. degree — from a university
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. swing — to play on
  8. file — a document
  9. march — the month
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pitch — completely
  15. march — music
  16. file — a tool
  17. rule — government
  18. swing — in golf
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. swing — music

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