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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wax — to grow
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. chest — of your body
  7. band — a ring
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — happy
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. game — wild animals
  16. chest — of your body
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. game — a match
  21. chest — a box
  22. bass — the fish
  23. content — the amount
  24. bass — low music

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