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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bass — low music
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bass — the fish
  6. lean — thin
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. court — of a king
  11. firm — a company
  12. court — for sport
  13. firm — steady
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — music
  19. wax — to grow
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. pop — soda
  22. firm — decided
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. court — of law

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