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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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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: last · wax · kick · snap · cell · bat · fall · degree

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. kick — in football
  3. last — finally
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cell — in biology
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. fall — the season
  19. last — final
  20. snap — to click
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. fall — to drop
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. last — to go on

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