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

Word bank: degree · kick · saw · fall · court · wax · last · chip

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. last — to go on
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. fall — the season
  7. kick — in football
  8. wax — to grow
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. last — finally
  12. fall — to drop
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. court — for sport
  20. chip — to eat
  21. court — of law
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. court — of a king
  24. fall — to drop

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