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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. key — for a lock
  4. spell — letters
  5. key — in music
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. key — the most important part
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. spring — the season
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. spring — of water
  15. bass — the fish
  16. wax — to grow
  17. spell — a short time
  18. prune — to trim
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. face — to point toward
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. spell — magic
  24. bass — the instrument

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