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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bank — for money
  4. hand — help
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ground — a position
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. club — for dancing
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wax — to grow
  13. club — for golf
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — crushed
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bass — the fish
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bank — for money
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. club — a group
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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