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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 124 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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Word bank
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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 · spring · hand · ground · bass · stand · game · roll

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spring — of water
  3. ground — a position
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. hand — help
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. game — a match
  13. spring — the season
  14. wax — to grow
  15. ground — the earth
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. hand — in cards
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. ground — crushed
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. roll — a cake
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wax — in the ear

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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