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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: mate · shower · wax · court · bass · wind · board · season

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. wind — moving air
  3. board — a committee
  4. season — of the year
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bass — the fish
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mate — to breed
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. mate — a partner
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — for sport
  14. board — to get on
  15. shower — rain
  16. wax — to grow
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. mate — a friend
  22. season — in sport
  23. wind — moving air
  24. court — of law

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