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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: degree · wake · dip · sharp · band · last · wax · pound

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wax — to grow
  3. band — a ring
  4. wake — a trail
  5. last — final
  6. degree — from a university
  7. last — to go on
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. band — a music group
  10. sharp — clever
  11. degree — temperature
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. dip — to sink
  21. pound — a weight
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — finally

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