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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. wax — to grow
  9. pitch — completely
  10. fork — in a road
  11. degree — temperature
  12. stem — to come from
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. roll — a cake
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. roll — a list

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