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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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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: bass · wind · straw · vault · arm · wax · scale · chest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. scale — size or range
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. chest — of your body
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. chest — a box
  14. wax — to grow
  15. scale — in music
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — a safe
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. arm — part of the body

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