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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bass — low music
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. wax — to grow
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. drill — a practice
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. drill — the tool
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. drill — army training
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. calf — a young animal

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