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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wax · stick · field · bass · pit · straw · cabinet · cold

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. wax — to grow
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. field — for sport
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pit — a hole
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. field — a subject
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. bass — low music
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. field — farmland
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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