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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pound — a weight
  3. hand — help
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bass — low music
  7. stem — to come from
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bass — the fish
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. wax — to grow
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a lid
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cap — a hat
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. pound — for dogs

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