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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: press · pass · squash · wax · cold · wound · bass · tear

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tear — from crying
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bass — the fish
  11. pass — a permit
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. press — to push
  14. press — a publisher
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bass — low music
  18. squash — to crush
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. cold — an illness

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