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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 like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. swing — to play on
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bass — low music
  6. bank — of a river
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. track — a path
  11. scale — in music
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — for money
  15. swing — music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. track — a song
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. spring — of water
  20. wax — to grow
  21. scale — size or range
  22. swing — in golf
  23. track — to keep track
  24. spring — the season

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