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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: pound · degree · file · wax · shower · ball · game · pop

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. file — a tool
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pop — music
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. game — wild animals
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. wax — to grow
  14. degree — an amount
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pop — soda
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — rain
  24. file — a document

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