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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: game · degree · wax · fall · bass · pitch · bear · snap

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. degree — from a university
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bass — the fish
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. bass — low music
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fall — the season
  10. degree — an amount
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bear — the animal
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bear — the animal
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. game — a match
  23. fall — to drop
  24. snap — to click

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