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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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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: wax · club · cell · lie · wind · bank · degree · net

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bank — for money
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. net — in sport
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. bank — of a river
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bank — for money
  13. wind — moving air
  14. net — for catching
  15. club — for dancing
  16. cell — in biology
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. club — a group
  20. degree — an amount
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. lie — to recline

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