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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wound — an injury
  4. present — a gift
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. present — the time now
  7. scale — size or range
  8. present — there
  9. charge — electricity
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — temperature
  19. scale — in music
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. charge — a price
  22. charge — in control
  23. plane — a tool
  24. scale — for weighing

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