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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: wax · chip · chair · wake · object · degree · land · fork

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. degree — from a university
  3. land — to come down
  4. wake — a trail
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — an aim
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. wax — to grow
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. fork — in a road
  16. object — a thing
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — an amount
  22. land — ground
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chair — a professorship

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