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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: band · degree · perch · wax · cue · stock · land · wake

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wax — to grow
  3. band — a ring
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stock — shares
  6. band — a music group
  7. degree — from a university
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wake — a trail
  12. stock — goods
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. land — a country
  16. land — to come down
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a hint
  19. degree — temperature
  20. land — ground
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cue — a signal
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. perch — for a bird

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