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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 120 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 · wax · degree · hand · pitcher · rule · land · foot

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. land — to come down
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rule — a law
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. land — a country
  10. rule — government
  11. wax — to grow
  12. degree — from a university
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. degree — an amount
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. degree — temperature
  17. saw — the tool
  18. land — ground
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. foot — a measure
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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