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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. drill — the tool
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wax — to grow
  5. root — the cause
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. hand — help
  8. root — of a plant
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. swing — in golf
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. swing — to play on
  14. drill — a practice
  15. root — of a word
  16. swing — music
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hand — in cards
  19. drill — army training
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. lash — to lash out

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