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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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Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wax — to grow
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to click
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. root — of a plant
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fine — all right
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — to cut
  15. root — of a word
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. spell — magic
  19. degree — from a university
  20. root — the cause
  21. fine — high quality
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. spell — a short time

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