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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. rest — a break
  6. swing — in golf
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. mate — a partner
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mate — a friend
  18. clip — a video
  19. mate — to breed
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chair — a leader
  23. rest — what's left
  24. fan — a supporter

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