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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — employees
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bass — low music
  10. net — for catching
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. last — final
  13. bass — the fish
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. march — the month
  16. content — the amount
  17. wax — to grow
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. content — happy
  22. net — after costs
  23. staff — a stick
  24. march — music

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