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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pop — music
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. squash — the sport
  8. shower — rain
  9. pop — soda
  10. tube — a container
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. tube — the underground
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. pop — to visit
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bass — the fish
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. squash — to crush
  21. wax — to grow
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. straw — a straw man

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