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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bass — low music
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — shares
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. wax — to grow
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. fall — the season
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. fall — to drop
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. straw — dry grass

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