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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: lie · degree · craft · chair · sharp · mouse · wax · tear

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. chair — a leader
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. craft — boats
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. tear — to rip
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wax — to grow
  14. craft — a skill
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. lie — to recline
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. degree — temperature
  24. craft — a handicraft

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