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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mine — for digging
  3. wax — to grow
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. degree — from a university
  7. can — to be able to
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. craft — boats
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. row — to paddle
  13. can — a tin
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. scale — size or range
  16. degree — an amount
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. scale — in music
  20. craft — a skill
  21. can — a tin
  22. row — a line
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fan — a supporter

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