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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: field · land · wind · bass · wax · degree · plane · temple

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bass — low music
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. field — a subject
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. wax — to grow
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. degree — temperature
  14. field — for sport
  15. plane — a tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. field — farmland
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. land — a country
  23. wind — moving air
  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