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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. march — the month
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. march — music
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. lie — to recline
  12. row — a line
  13. pound — a weight
  14. march — the month
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. swing — music
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. wax — to grow
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. row — to paddle

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