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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. march — the month
  4. bass — low music
  5. bulb — for light
  6. march — the month
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cell — a phone
  10. roll — a list
  11. march — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. roll — a cake
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. bulb — for light
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. shower — rain
  24. cell — in a prison

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