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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: chair · saw · rash · bass · shower · wax · straw · spring

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. shower — rain
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — of water
  8. chair — a leader
  9. spring — the season
  10. bass — low music
  11. rash — a series
  12. saw — the tool
  13. spring — a coil
  14. rash — hasty
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. saw — the tool
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. straw — dry grass
  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