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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bass — low music
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. tube — the underground
  11. bass — the fish
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. tube — a container
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. branch — a division
  17. wax — to grow
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. squash — to crush
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chair — a leader
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bass — the instrument

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