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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 120 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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — music
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. cap — a hat
  8. bass — low music
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rock — music
  14. cap — of ice
  15. court — of a king
  16. rock — a stone
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. pop — to visit
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bass — the fish

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