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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a line of people
  4. file — a tool
  5. land — ground
  6. degree — temperature
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wound — an injury
  10. degree — an amount
  11. land — to come down
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. file — a document
  17. bulb — for light
  18. land — a country
  19. bulb — for light
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wax — to grow
  23. board — a committee
  24. board — to get on

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