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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: wax · rest · hand · field · degree · prune · roll · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. degree — temperature
  3. field — farmland
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. field — for sport
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. wax — to grow
  8. field — a subject
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rest — a break
  11. roll — a list
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — in sport
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hand — in cards
  19. degree — from a university
  20. prune — to trim
  21. rest — what's left
  22. hand — help
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. rest — what's left

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