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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
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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: chest · bass · row · wax · deal · pitcher · band · cold

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. deal — to handle
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a ring
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. bass — the fish
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — to grow
  14. bass — low music
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. chest — a box
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. chest — of your body
  19. band — a music group
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bass — the instrument

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