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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. game — a match
  4. wax — to grow
  5. present — a gift
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. object — to protest
  10. bass — low music
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. object — a thing
  13. bass — the fish
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. file — a document
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. game — wild animals
  20. object — an aim
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. present — the time now
  23. file — a line of people
  24. coach — a trainer

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