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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. date — the fruit
  5. band — a music group
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — in sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wax — to grow
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. file — a document
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. band — a ring
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. file — a line of people
  19. degree — temperature
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. degree — from a university
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. file — a 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