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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: drill · cold · fall · wax · mark · rock · ball · degree

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rock — a stone
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. degree — from a university
  8. fall — to drop
  9. drill — the tool
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. ball — a great time
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. rock — music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mark — a trace
  20. degree — an amount
  21. drill — a practice
  22. mark — a grade
  23. fall — the season
  24. wax — to grow

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