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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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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: safe · ball · wax · wind · degree · tear · rest · bulb

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rest — a break
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. ball — a dance
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wax — to grow
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. rest — what's left
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wind — moving air
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. safe — out of danger

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