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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wax — to grow
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cap — of ice
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. file — a tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bore — to drill
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bore — to tire
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cap — a lid
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pitcher — a jug

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