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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. drill — a practice
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. mine — for digging
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. drill — the tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. drill — army training
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. band — a ring
  18. band — a music group
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bass — low music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. mine — an explosive

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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