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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. swing — in golf
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wax — to grow
  5. tube — a container
  6. stem — to come from
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spell — magic
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. chest — of your body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. spell — a short time
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. tube — the underground
  16. chest — a box
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. swing — music
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. swing — to play on
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. spell — letters
  24. chest — of your body

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