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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: shower · sharp · degree · field · wax · pass · game · face

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wax — to grow
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. face — to confront
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. shower — to wash
  7. field — farmland
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — from a university
  11. field — for sport
  12. degree — an amount
  13. game — a match
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. field — a subject
  16. pass — a permit
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. shower — rain
  22. sharp — clever
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pass — to spend time

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