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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. kid — to tease
  4. swing — music
  5. wax — to grow
  6. face — part of the head
  7. mate — a friend
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. face — to confront
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. face — to point toward
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bass — low music
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. swing — to play on
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. swing — in golf

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