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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 120 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: spring · season · bay · fork · capital · bass · wax · chair

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. season — in sport
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bass — low music
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. spring — a coil
  12. season — of the year
  13. spring — of water
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spring — the season
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. bass — the fish
  23. fork — in a road
  24. capital — a big letter

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