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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. chest — a box
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. last — finally
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wax — to grow
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. branch — a division
  15. last — to go on
  16. mine — for digging
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bass — low music
  20. kid — child
  21. last — final
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bass — the fish
  24. chest — of your body

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