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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. wax — to grow
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rush — hurry
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mine — for digging
  9. drill — the tool
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. toast — bread
  20. drill — army training
  21. wound — an injury
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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