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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 116 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: race · clip · wax · fall · nail · degree · band · game

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fall — the season
  5. race — humankind
  6. game — a match
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fall — to drop
  10. band — a ring
  11. band — a music group
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wax — to grow
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. clip — a video
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. fall — to drop
  21. race — a contest
  22. game — wild animals
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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