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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. staff — employees
  3. net — for catching
  4. swing — in golf
  5. wax — to grow
  6. hand — help
  7. net — in sport
  8. land — a country
  9. staff — a stick
  10. land — ground
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. swing — music
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. hand — in cards
  16. swing — to play on
  17. land — to come down
  18. net — after costs
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. staff — employees
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wax — for sculpting

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