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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: track · bass · bat · chest · can · degree · wax · stand

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. can — to be able to
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bass — low music
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stand — to bear
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bass — the fish
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. track — a song
  17. track — a path
  18. wax — to grow
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. can — a tin
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. degree — an amount
  24. can — a tin

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