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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. race — the arms race
  3. tear — to rip
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cue — for pool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. stock — shares
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. tear — from crying
  16. race — a contest
  17. tear — from crying
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — magic
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cue — a hint
  23. stock — goods
  24. race — humankind

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