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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: degree · race · roll · patient · mark · last · wax · swing

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. roll — a cake
  6. swing — in golf
  7. race — a contest
  8. last — to go on
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wax — to grow
  11. degree — temperature
  12. mark — a grade
  13. swing — music
  14. degree — from a university
  15. last — final
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — humankind
  22. last — finally
  23. swing — to play on
  24. mark — a trace

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