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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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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — to be able to
  4. ground — the earth
  5. degree — an amount
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. ball — a great time
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. tear — to rip
  15. can — a tin
  16. tear — from crying
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ball — a dance
  19. wax — to grow
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — a position
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. row — to paddle

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