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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: degree · bound · shower · ground · wax · mate · court · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. ground — the earth
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bound — obliged
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. mate — to breed
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. court — of law
  10. bound — tied together
  11. ground — crushed
  12. court — of a king
  13. mate — a friend
  14. bound — certain
  15. degree — an amount
  16. tear — from crying
  17. wax — to grow
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — a position
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — temperature
  24. court — for sport

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