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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. wind — moving air
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — the animal
  9. wax — to grow
  10. swing — music
  11. land — ground
  12. wind — moving air
  13. swing — to play on
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — a country

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