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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stick · wax · ground · march · hand · degree · kid · tube

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tube — a container
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. kid — to tease
  5. degree — temperature
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wax — to grow
  9. march — music
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. hand — help
  15. ground — the earth
  16. kid — child
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hand — in cards
  19. march — the month
  20. tube — the underground
  21. ground — crushed
  22. degree — from a university
  23. ground — a position
  24. wax — for sculpting

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