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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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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 · bat · tear · drill · cell · stick · wax · rash

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — in biology
  3. drill — army training
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tear — to rip
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rash — a series
  9. cell — a phone
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. wax — to grow
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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