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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mate — a partner
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. branch — a division
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. ground — the earth
  8. charge — electricity
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — a position
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. mate — to breed
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mate — a friend
  18. charge — in control
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ground — crushed
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. charge — a price
  24. wind — moving air

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