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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: game · drill · press · wax · scale · march · degree · mug

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — a face
  5. game — a match
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — a practice
  8. press — newspapers
  9. degree — from a university
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wax — to grow
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. march — the month
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. degree — temperature
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. press — to push
  21. mug — to rob
  22. press — a publisher
  23. scale — size or range
  24. game — wild animals

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