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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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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: sharp · shower · last · field · degree · perch · roll · wax

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. wax — to grow
  3. last — to go on
  4. perch — the fish
  5. degree — an amount
  6. last — final
  7. shower — rain
  8. field — farmland
  9. last — finally
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — clever
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. roll — a cake
  20. field — a subject
  21. shower — to wash
  22. roll — a list
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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