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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. bark — to shout
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — to visit
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. hand — help
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. kick — in football
  11. game — a match
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bass — the fish
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. pop — music
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. arm — a part of something

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