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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: land · degree · tear · face · wax · stem · mine · bowl

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. degree — temperature
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. land — a country
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. land — ground
  13. degree — an amount
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wax — to grow
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. land — to come down
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. face — part of the head

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