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

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. file — a tool
  3. bass — the fish
  4. hand — in cards
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. degree — from a university
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lie — to recline
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. degree — an amount
  15. file — a line of people
  16. hand — help
  17. wax — to grow
  18. tube — a container
  19. bass — low music
  20. file — a document
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. lie — an untruth

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