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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: saw · cell · field · clip · swing · wax · degree · tube

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — for sport
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tube — the underground
  8. field — a subject
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. tube — a container
  13. clip — a video
  14. degree — temperature
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. field — farmland
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wax — to grow
  21. swing — in golf
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cell — in biology

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