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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 116 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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bark — to shout
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bass — low music
  5. hand — help
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pass — a permit
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bass — the fish
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. scale — size or range
  17. tear — from crying
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. pass — to spend time

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