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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: pitch · bass · bat · bound · wax · sharp · cold · chair

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. sharp — clever
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bound — certain
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bound — tied together
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. bound — obliged

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