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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 valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. wax — to grow
  3. object — an aim
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. stock — shares
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mine — for digging
  8. race — the arms race
  9. degree — from a university
  10. race — a contest
  11. tear — to rip
  12. degree — temperature
  13. tear — from crying
  14. race — humankind
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. object — to protest
  17. degree — an amount
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. stock — goods
  21. track — to keep track
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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