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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.

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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: tear · bass · wax · lean · game · mine · cold · vault

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bass — the fish
  9. lean — thin
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bass — low music
  15. game — a match
  16. tear — to rip
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. lean — to bend
  22. vault — a safe
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. wax — to grow

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