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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cell — a phone
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. bass — low music
  9. cue — for pool
  10. bass — the fish
  11. tear — to rip
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. sharp — clever
  18. tear — from crying
  19. squash — to crush
  20. cue — a signal
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cell — in biology
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. hand — in cards

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