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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bass · field · clip · file · face · cue · wax · toast

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. wax — to grow
  4. toast — bread
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. face — to confront
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. face — part of the head
  12. file — a tool
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — the fish
  15. field — farmland
  16. cue — for pool
  17. file — a document
  18. clip — a video
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bass — low music
  21. face — to point toward
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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