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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. fall — to drop
  5. lean — to bend
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bass — low music
  8. spell — magic
  9. lean — thin
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wind — moving air
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wax — to grow
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spell — a short time
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. fall — the season
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. spell — letters
  22. row — a line
  23. band — a music group
  24. lean — to rest against

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