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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: wax · vault · bass · fan · cold · court · saw · board

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. vault — a safe
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. board — to get on
  7. court — for sport
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wax — to grow
  14. cold — not warm
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bass — the fish
  18. board — a committee
  19. court — of a king
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. court — of law
  24. saw — the tool

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