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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — a division
  5. track — to keep track
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. drill — a practice
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. track — a song
  13. degree — temperature
  14. vault — a safe
  15. wax — to grow
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. track — a path
  18. drill — army training
  19. degree — from a university
  20. last — final
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. degree — an amount
  24. drill — the tool

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