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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: degree · ground · bat · wax · shower · chair · key · rest

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. ground — the earth
  3. key — in music
  4. rest — a break
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rest — what's left
  14. key — for a lock
  15. shower — to wash
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rest — what's left
  21. ground — a position
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — an amount

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