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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 · scale · present · ground · tube · lie · shower · bass

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. lie — to recline
  3. tube — the underground
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. present — a gift
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. present — the time now
  8. bass — the fish
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. scale — in music
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. shower — to wash
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. ground — a position
  15. bass — low music
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. wax — to grow
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. shower — rain
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. present — there

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