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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  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. roll — a cake
  2. can — a tin
  3. degree — from a university
  4. wax — to grow
  5. degree — an amount
  6. clip — for paper
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — a video
  9. roll — a list
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. club — for golf
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. club — a group
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. capital — a city
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — to be able to
  23. club — for dancing
  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