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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. march — the month
  4. wax — to grow
  5. ground — a position
  6. bass — low music
  7. stand — to bear
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. game — wild animals
  11. ground — crushed
  12. march — music
  13. bass — the fish
  14. game — a match
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. kid — to tease
  19. march — the month
  20. kid — child
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. ground — the earth
  23. row — a line
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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