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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 · fan · chair · cold · tear · present · wax · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. present — the time now
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — there
  9. degree — from a university
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wax — to grow
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. tear — from crying
  20. chair — a leader
  21. degree — an amount
  22. tear — from crying
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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