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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fan · tear · game · degree · tube · ground · lean · wax

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — temperature
  5. ground — a position
  6. tube — a container
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. lean — thin
  12. degree — from a university
  13. game — a match
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wax — to grow
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. ground — crushed
  18. lean — to bend
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. ground — the earth
  23. tear — to rip
  24. game — wild animals

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