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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bat · race · wax · degree · wave · board · trunk · net

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. net — after costs
  3. degree — an amount
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. net — in sport
  9. race — the arms race
  10. board — a committee
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wax — to grow
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. bat — the animal
  18. degree — temperature
  19. race — a contest
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. board — to get on
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. net — for catching
  24. degree — from a university

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