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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. wax — to grow
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. mine — for digging
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. cell — a phone
  18. degree — temperature
  19. file — a line of people
  20. cell — in biology
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. degree — an amount

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