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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. bass — the fish
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. spell — letters
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. spell — magic
  16. wax — to grow
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bass — low music
  19. fork — in a road
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. cell — a phone
  24. fork — to eat with

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