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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: wax · march · race · club · tear · racket · degree · squash

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tear — to rip
  6. degree — an amount
  7. club — a group
  8. race — a contest
  9. degree — from a university
  10. squash — the sport
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. tear — from crying
  13. squash — to crush
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. race — the arms race
  17. club — for golf
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. march — music
  20. race — humankind
  21. tear — from crying
  22. march — the month
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. march — the month

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