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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fork — in a road
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to click
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. track — a song
  11. wax — to grow
  12. track — a path
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. rash — a series
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rash — hasty
  20. prune — to trim
  21. track — to keep track
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. degree — from a university

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