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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wax — to grow
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rash — a series
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. clip — a video
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bass — low music
  18. bear — the animal

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