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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — a contest
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. wax — to grow
  5. fine — all right
  6. ball — a great time
  7. net — for catching
  8. swing — in golf
  9. ball — a dance
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. degree — from a university
  12. net — in sport
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. net — after costs
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wake — a trail

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