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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. foot — a measure
  9. file — a tool
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. file — a document
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. branch — a division
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. season — of the year
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wax — to grow
  21. season — in sport
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bore — to tire
  24. bore — to drill

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