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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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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. can — a tin
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. ground — a position
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. can — to be able to
  13. ground — crushed
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fork — in a road

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