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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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Word bank
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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. fine — all right
  3. degree — an amount
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. lean — thin
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — of a word
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. root — the cause
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fine — high quality
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — to bend
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. wax — to grow
  20. date — the fruit
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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