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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. sharp — clever
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — to breed
  17. swing — music
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. swing — in golf
  23. wax — to grow
  24. swing — to play on

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