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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bass — low music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. charge — in control
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. charge — a price
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wax — to grow
  13. drill — army training
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. band — a ring
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. fine — high quality
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — a practice
  23. band — a music group
  24. fine — a penalty

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