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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 116 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. mark — a grade
  3. wax — to grow
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. degree — an amount
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. swing — to play on
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — a practice
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. degree — temperature
  14. row — a line
  15. mark — a trace
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. row — to paddle
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. capital — a city

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