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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: hand · bound · wax · court · bass · season · shower · wound

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wax — to grow
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wound — an injury
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bass — the fish
  10. shower — to wash
  11. season — of the year
  12. bound — tied together
  13. court — for sport
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. court — of law
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. wound — an injury
  19. shower — rain
  20. season — in sport
  21. bound — certain
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bass — low music

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