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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: shower · plane · stand · degree · mark · tear · wax · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mark — a grade
  5. tear — from crying
  6. stand — to bear
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mark — a trace
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. tear — to rip
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wax — to grow
  15. degree — temperature
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. plane — a tool
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. band — a ring
  22. shower — rain
  23. degree — an amount
  24. plane — in geometry

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