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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cap · wind · coach · wax · shower · clip · fan · bass

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. bass — the fish
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. clip — a video
  16. wax — to grow
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wind — moving air
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cap — a lid
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bass — low music
  24. cap — of ice

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