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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.

Make a worksheet

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: squash · perch · bass · club · mark · wax · cold · pitcher

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mark — a trace
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. cold — not warm
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — the fish
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wax — to grow
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mark — a grade
  21. bass — low music
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bass — the fish

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