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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 120 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: wax · cell · ground · land · calf · rash · bass · hand

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. land — a country
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. land — to come down
  5. bass — low music
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. ground — crushed
  8. land — ground
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rash — a series
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. hand — in cards
  22. wax — to grow
  23. bass — the instrument
  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