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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ball — a great time
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wax — to grow
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bass — the fish
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. ball — a dance
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. plane — a tool
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chest — a box
  23. toast — bread
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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