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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. bass — the fish
  3. track — a path
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. track — to keep track
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. dip — to sink
  14. bass — low music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. track — a song
  17. bound — certain
  18. scale — in music
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bound — obliged
  22. kid — child
  23. game — a match
  24. dip — a sauce

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