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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. craft — boats
  4. bass — the fish
  5. march — the month
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. clip — a video
  11. march — the month
  12. band — a music group
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. court — of law
  15. clip — to cut
  16. march — music
  17. court — of a king
  18. face — to point toward
  19. bass — low music
  20. court — for sport
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. craft — a skill

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