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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: wax · land · field · straw · last · ruler · bass · bat

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wax — to grow
  4. field — for sport
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. last — to go on
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. land — ground
  13. last — finally
  14. field — farmland
  15. ruler — a monarch
  16. bat — the animal
  17. field — a subject
  18. land — to come down
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. last — final
  21. land — a country
  22. bass — low music
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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