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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. bass — the fish
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bass — low music
  6. bat — the animal
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. staff — a stick
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. staff — employees
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — the season
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the sport
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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