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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
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: clip · wax · bat · arm · wake · stem · degree · bass

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. bat — the animal
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bass — low music
  5. clip — a video
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. degree — from a university
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wax — to grow
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bass — the fish
  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