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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · hand · rush · wax · court · degree · swing · leaves

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. hand — help
  7. court — of law
  8. swing — music
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rush — hurry
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. swing — in golf
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wax — to grow
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. court — for sport
  22. degree — temperature
  23. swing — to play on
  24. court — of a king

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