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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. spring — the season
  3. bass — the fish
  4. club — for dancing
  5. wax — to grow
  6. net — after costs
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. mine — for digging
  9. rule — government
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — low music
  12. club — a group
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. net — in sport
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spring — of water
  18. club — for golf
  19. spring — a coil
  20. game — wild animals
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. net — for catching
  24. rule — a law

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