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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wax — to grow
  5. game — a match
  6. last — finally
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. club — for golf
  9. last — final
  10. rush — hurry
  11. tube — the underground
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. club — for dancing
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. tube — a container
  23. degree — temperature
  24. club — a group

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