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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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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: game · cold · rule · degree · stick · wake · foot · wax

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wake — a trail
  3. game — wild animals
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. wax — to grow
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. foot — a measure
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — a match
  17. rule — a law
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. degree — temperature
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. rule — government

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