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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 116 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. swing — to play on
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bulb — for light
  6. spring — of water
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. spring — the season
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bulb — for light
  18. spring — a coil

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