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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 116 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. season — in sport
  3. row — a line
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — to grow
  7. degree — temperature
  8. season — of the year
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. root — the cause
  11. sharp — clever
  12. degree — an amount
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. tear — from crying
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. tear — to rip
  20. degree — from a university
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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