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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.

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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: bass · wave · drill · wax · hide · file · wind · bat

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bass — low music
  8. wax — to grow
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. file — a document
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. bass — the fish
  17. file — a tool
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. drill — army training
  24. file — a line of people

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