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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: foot · wax · rock · march · leaves · clip · race · degree

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. degree — an amount
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. march — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. rock — music
  10. foot — a measure
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rock — a stone
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. clip — to cut
  21. race — humankind
  22. march — the month
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. clip — a video

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