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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. branch — a division
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — an illness
  7. key — for a lock
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. key — the most important part
  12. pop — soda
  13. degree — temperature
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wind — moving air
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. wind — moving air
  20. degree — from a university
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. key — in music
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. pop — to visit

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