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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cell — a phone
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. firm — steady
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — in a race
  11. land — ground
  12. firm — a company
  13. wax — to grow
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cell — in biology
  16. stem — to come from
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rest — a break
  20. degree — temperature
  21. land — a country
  22. rest — what's left
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. firm — decided

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