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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. kid — child
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. track — a song
  6. degree — temperature
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. degree — an amount
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. kid — to tease
  12. stock — goods
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — a stone
  16. stock — shares
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. track — a path
  19. track — to keep track
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. branch — a division
  23. rush — hurry
  24. branch — of a bank

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